Fixing Ones Mistakes
by Mem0ry
Summary: Nagato feels guilty and sends Naruto back in time to fix his mistakes. Second-war Era.
1. Going back

**Uzushio was destroyed at the beginning of the Second Shinobi War in this fic, thus starting the war as Konoha raged war against Kiri Kumo and Iwa with Suna backing them. Kushina is an infant right now in the care of Mito.**

 **Sannin: 22**

 **Naruto: 19**

 **Hiruzen: 35**

* * *

Three people stood in a large hollow tree, all three had things that defined them, and all three were remarkably powerful.

The first person was a man inside of a strange type of mechanism that had him leaning against a strange cross with no top due to their being multiple black rods protruding from his upper back. The man's hands were held in dark tubes of some type of machinery obscuring his hands from view while they were held up by cords from the cross the man was against. There was also a massive wooden curved half wall that obscured his legs from the view of the world.

The part of him that was shown was somewhat disturbing to look at.

His main body was extremely thin, his ribs and bones pushing against the skin making them defined as well as his face making his cheeks look hollow and his eyes empty. His eyes though were a dark purple with numerous rings running through them, making him the opposite of ordinary at a glance. His red shaggy hair hung down around his head, only allowing his left eye to be seen while obscuring the rest of his head except his jaw.

The second person was the only woman there, standing next to the red-haired man protectively as she stared at the opposite man. Her form was concealed inside of the black cloak she wore with red clouds dotting it showing it to be unique. Her purple hair was tied into a bun in the back, making the hair frame around her face perfectly as it revealed two amber eyes that gave the woman an exotic look to her.

The stranges thing about the woman was the paper origami flower that sat in her hair, perfectly made with the detail of a real flower. The last distinguishing feature of the woman that was visible was the piercing just below her lip.

The final person was the most normal-looking of the three. He was a blonde-haired blue-eyed teen with a grim look on his face that showed he was not as innocent as one would assume. He wore a black and orange jumpsuit with one red spiral on the back of it. His forehead held a band with a single metal plate on it with the symbol of a leaf, showing his allegiance to the village of Konoha. His hands were clenched tightly and his teeth grit, you could tell that this teen was very angry.

"I realize I cannot fix the wrongs I have done onto this world Uzumaki Naruto." the red-haired man said as the now identified Naruto glared at him.

"Really now? I thought you were bringing peace!" the boy hissed at the older man, his voice dripping with venom and mocking. Nagato's glowing eyes lost some of their light as he thought about his failure to uphold peace in the world of war.

"As I said, I may not be able to fix my wrongs but you can." said the man as he removed his hands from the contraptions holding them, gaining a hiss from the machine as his hands were revealed showing the black pieces protruding from his wrist and forearm. He reached down and pressed a button, drawing another hiss as well as a burst a steam from the machine as he fell out of the machine, the purple-haired woman jumping beneath him to stop him from hitting the ground.

He slung an arm around her neck as he staggered towards the blonde, now standing right in front of the tense blonde. "What do you mean I can?" asked the teen as his hand hovered over the pouch on his right, hand ready to whip out one of the knives and fight if need be.

"I have the-" the men suddenly went into a fit of coughs, clearly not healthy. That machine had been keeping him alive and now without it, his time was very limited. "I have the doujutsu of the Rikudou Sennin himself and the eyes of Kami. I can send you back, back before this war, back before I met Jiraiya-sensei, you can change the world." the man said, rasping by the end of his sentence as if he was dehydrated.

Naruto was speechless by the man's words, not fully comprehending the ability to actually send someone back in time. "Why?" asked the teen quietly as the man gave a thin smile with his cracked and dry lips.

"I guess you could say I feel bad." the man said as he removed his hand from Konan and put the hand on Naruto's forehead, closing his eyes as Naruto's own widened in a mix of pain and elation. He could feel the pain of the technique flowing through him but the chance to save everyone made him ignore the pain.

He watched as Nagato's hair whitened, sweat coated his body and he became even thinner than before if that was possible. The man's eyes opened as he panted, clearly exhausted from what he had just done. "Bring the peace Jiraiya-sensei wanted, Uzumaki Naruto." the man said as Naruto felt it.

The feeling of being ripped apart came to Naruto as his mouth opened into a silent cry, arching his back as he stared at the sky in pain. The two adults watched on as the boy slowly became nothing, his body flaking away as if he had never existed.

Naruto watched as his body turned into flakes of flesh and soon he was nothing but dust in the scattering wind as Nagato watched with a smile. "Nagato, how do you know you didn't kill him?" asked the woman as no portal or anything appeared like she had expected to take him away. The man coughed out a wad of blood on the floor and he almost collapsed but Konan caught him, worry on her face as she did so.

"Intuition." the man whispered.

* * *

Next to a river, a being started coming into existence. It started from the ground up, flakes came out of thin air as they twirled in a cyclone as a man was made.

The person was tall, close to five foot eight with a tan complexion. As soon as he fully came into being he collapsed to the slick morning dew coated grass as he panted, the breaths coming in shallow and quick as he tried to inhale air. The teen got to his knees, dragging himself to the river as he grabbed handfuls of the liquid and threw it at his face. He stopped after the third splash against his face as his mind raced with what he knew.

He was back in time.

He was back in time before his parents had even been born.

He promptly turned and threw up in the grass, not much came out due to war rations not being very fulfilling. All he'd really eaten for two months before the time-travel had been ration bars, drinking bottles of water, and having the occasional fruit if lucky.

He fell back on his shins, wiping his mouth as he sat on his knees and processed the knowledge of being back in time before the Sannin became the Sannin. If what he knew was correct then Jiraiya had met Hanzo the Salamander before meeting Nagato and the others, so at the very least he had a basic timeline. He glanced in the river and turned back around, only for his eyes to widen and him to snap his head back to the river.

It would seem Nagato had given him something. Naruto stared down at the red-haired purple-eyed teen that stared back. He'd lost his hair and eyes that looked like his father and had gained the traits his mother'd had.

The only difference was he was tan like his father and had a more chiseled face.

Two years of war had changed Naruto. Jiraiya's information had been wrong and the Akatsuki had started a war in the middle of his training trip, causing both Sannin and student to join the fray. While Naruto may not have learned what his sensei would have taught him, he'd learned a lot of things one gains through experience.

In some ways, the war had trained Naruto better than the training trip ever would have. He'd gained reflexes and experience due to him using Kage Bunshin to fight, causing him to gain over seventy years of wartime experience compared to the two he had been there.

He'd learned countless jutsu and two different taijutsu styles. He'd learned how to use the Rasengan with one hand and how to fight with close to any weapon, making him able to pick up enemy weapons and use them to his advantage.

In the middle of their training trip Tobi, or Madara, had used his Sharingan to convince a leaf-nin to kill a Kumo Jonnin and his whole Gennin team, putting their heads branches of trees _inside_ Kumo, giving the Raikage one clear message.

The leaf declaration of war. Kiri and Iwa had joined with Kumo after the barbaric act but Gaara had sided with Naruto, no matter what so it had been the village of Kiri Kumo and Iwa versus Suna and Konoha. But they'd had the advantage, due to the connections Naruto had made over the years he'd gotten plenty of small villages on their side that they would out supply their opponent through sheer supplies.

They had taken out Kiri in the first year of the war due to them being so weak from their Civil war, they hadn't had time to truly prepare themselves against the might of might of Naruto and Gaara. During all of this chaos, Orochimaru had taken over Sasuke's body, making Naruto lose it.

Naruto had then gained the moniker of Shinigami Kitsune. Naruto had truly lived up to his father's name, except instead of being at hundreds of places at once with Hiraishin, he'd use thousands of Kyuubi-cloaked Kage Bunshin to take on whole armies of the enemy. He used them so much he didn't even need a hand seal for them

They may just be clones with a portion of his power, but a portion of his power was still more than the average Jonnin. Naruto had decimated most of Iwa's army as well as Kumo's but then Pein had attacked Konoha, leading to the current problem.

Images of Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi, Jiraiya, Asuma, Hiruzen, Konohamaru, Neji, Hinata, Kiba, Shino, Lee, Tenten, Izumo, Kotetsu, Choji, Sai, Ino, Shikaku, Inoichi, Chouza, Anko, Ibiki, Udon, Moegi, Kankuro, Baki, Shikamaru, Temari, Tsunade, Shizune, Iruka, Hinata, Konoha...

He'd failed them all, they'd put their trust in him and he'd let them all down. He clenched his fist as he stared down at the river, showing him the hard amethyst orbs that glared right back. "I won't fail this time..." he whispered as he stood, taking off his Konoha headband as he did so.

"It's a promise." was heard through the wind as the red-haired teen turned around and pushed through the brush, stepping past it as he walked forward taking in the sight below.

Konoha.

He stood on the head of the Sandaime Hokage as he stared down at the village. It wasn't as large as the one he knew, the buildings were smaller and the people were fewer, but the green was just as bright, the leaves as strong, and the trees just as strong.

His mind whirled as he thought out what he must do to become a shinobi of Konoha again. He plotted and spun lies for him to convince the Sandaime of his willing allegiance.

* * *

Naruto walked up the familiar stairs of the Hokage tower, noticing how some things are different and some are the same. He soon came to the attendant's desk, a different than then the one that was there when he was young. "Excuse me?" asked the red-haired teen as the woman angled her head up to look at him.

Naruto didn't truly realize it due to it being a normal thing for him, but his outfit had taken a large amount of damage from his fight with Pein. His left sleeve was torn off at the bicep along with the mesh under it revealing his toned muscle to the woman. The edges of the bottom of his top were frayed and cut, showing the mesh undershirt that hugged his fit form.

His right cuff was ripped off and the zipper of the bottom of his top was ripped apart, making it only zipped from midway up except for the neck because he had that unzipped to about his collarbone showing the base of his strong neck muscles and the feral look his whiskers gave and lack of headband making his hair hang down to about his eyebrows while some spikes went down below his eyes.

All of this added together made the woman very attracted to the red-haired teen. "H-Hai?" she asked, a small blush on her cheeks as Naruto grinned, causing the woman to blush even more. Naruto had been dense and idiotic before the war, after the war had started he'd gotten some very strange offers.

Many kunoichis had come up to him, stuttering and blushing about how they didn't want to die a virgin. Naruto had only actually accepted two of the offers, Hinata and Sakura being them. Tenten made him feel like betraying Neji, Temari the same for Shikamaru.

These things had made him get more of a brain and he could add two and two to make four. "Can I have a meeting with Hokage-sama?" asked the teen as the woman looked down at her clipboard for a few moments.

"He'll be free in fifteen minutes, he is currently training his team. He should be back by then." Naruto gave her a grateful nod and made to leave.

"Y-You can stay here and wait for him!" she called out desperately as Naruto stopped and turned his head over his shoulder to look at the brunette who seemed rather meek at the moment. She was cute Naruto decided, looking at the brown haired pulled into a ponytail and the soft face, matching the curvaceous body she had. She was no Hinata or Tsunade but she was curvy in her own right.

Naruto flashed her a toothy grin as he sat down in one of the seats in the waiting room. The teen balanced a kunai on his index finger to pass the time, a chakra control technique Sakura had taught him a while back. Technically everything was a long way into the future but he refused to think about it or his head would spin. "You have a boyfriend accountant-chan?" asked the teen after a good few minutes, catching the female off-guard at the abrupt question.

She looked about his age so he doubted she could have a husband at that age. Having a boyfriend at nineteen was a very real possibility though. "N-No. And it's Mirumi," she replied as she gave him a small smile, added to the blush on her cheeks made her hot in Naruto's mind.

"Good to know," he said before returning to his task of playing with the kunai with tricks as he flipped it every now and then, catching it with the tip of his finger as he did so. Naruto sat there for about ten more minutes in the quiet hall, the sound of Mirumi's scratching pencil the only noise he could hear besides himself breathing.

Then, he heard the footsteps walking down the hall, turning to see a young brown-haired man that actually made Naruto pause.

He was not the Hiruzen he knew, he did not wear the robes nor did he wear the hat, he looked like the man from the picture Jiraiya had shown him. The man wore a loose Kimono with the neck hung down to his midsection, revealing the mesh he wore underneath the robe.

Poking out of the sleeves was also the mesh, showing it went all the way down to his wrists. The man also wore a pair of loose robe pants before those were taped off at the middle of his shin leading into his sandals. The thing that caught him off guard was the man's face, the shorter yet brown goatee and the full head of brown hair to match was a different sight than the one he'd grown used to.

Hiruzen was eyeing Naruto the same Naruto eyed him, for Hiruzen he was inspecting the fact Naruto looked like he'd just been through a war. The man walked to his office giving a nod to his accountant as he did so. "Hokage-sama, this man would like to talk to you." the woman said as Hiruzen sighed, he'd figured as much as he waved the man in, wanting to relax in his chair at the moment.

Naruto stood and just as he was about to step into the office his sleeve was grabbed by the woman. "W-Would you like to have dinner?" asked the woman, blushing heavily as Naruto smirked at her boldness.

"We'll work out the specifics when I come back out," he whispered before disappearing into the office, shutting the door behind him. He came to the sight of Hiruzen behind the desk with his hands folded over his stomach as he regarded Naruto. "If I'm honest I didn't expect to get a meeting with you this easy," the red-haired teen said as he rubbed the back of his head.

"I usually wouldn't but based on the fact you have those eyes and hair you're most likely an Uzumaki, but I thought the Uzumaki were wiped out. Bringing me to the question, what are you doing here?" asked the man as he sat up in his chair, leaning against the desk.

Naruto rehearsed the lie he'd practiced as he met Hiruzen's gaze. "I had been away at the time, I was doing a mission checking up on a port that reported some issues and by the time I got back it was gone." the teen's pain was real because something very similar had happened to Konoha. Hiruzen slowly nodded as he gestured to Naruto's clothing.

"And your clothing Mr. Uzumaki?" asked the man as Naruto looked down at himself.

"Names Naruto Uzumaki, and I have basically been fighting non-stop since Uzu fell so I haven't really had time to get a new pair of clothes. I lost my headband about a month back when one bastard cut three lines through it." that was also true to an extent, he had numerous pairs of the same clothing back in his time and whenever one would get roughed he'd give it to Shizune and she would fix it for him but she'd died about two weeks before he left, leaving him with only his current pair in this time as well as his own.

Hiruzen nodded slowly as he regarded Naruto with a thoughtful expression on his face. "As I am sure you know, we're in the middle of a war and I can't simply accept you into Konoha. Many Uzumaki went to Kiri and you could be with them at the moment." Naruto gave an understanding nod, he'd been in a similar situation before. "So, I'm going to have you placed inside of an ANBU cell until I can figure out what to do with you. You won't be placed in shackles and you will be fed decent meals but you won't be allowed to leave the cell." the man said as he started writing out the information for the ANBU commander to read.

Naruto was more than annoyed at this situation but it was understandable, Hiruzen hadn't been the longest living Hokage for no reason after all. "I'm sure I'll figure out what to do with you by the end of the day," the man said as two ANBU appeared out of nowhere and one put his hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"Wait!" the teen suddenly said as the three looked at him curiously. "Can I talk to Mirami-chan first, I promised her a date." the man asked and he heard a scoff from the ANBU before he was gone in a shunshin, soon appearing inside the dark tunnels of ANBU HQ. "That was rude." the teen pouted as he walked down the hall. "A guy's tryin' to get laid and you gotta block him like that?" accused the non-ANBU as he pouted about not being able to go on that date.

"I'm sure a witty bastard like you'll be able to get her when you're outta here." said the ANBU to his right, distinctly female voice as well.

"Wanna join her?" asked the man as the man on his left snorted while Naruto smirked at the woman, feral smirk in place as he did so. He got no answer and he shrugged as he turned back to the hall. "I'm sure ANBU can have fun every now and then." the teen said as he stepped into his temporary cell as the woman shut it with more force than needed and Naruto peeked up through the grated hole in the door, watching them walk away.

"You've got a nice rear ANBU-chan~!" he hollered after her, taking pleasure in the middle finger over the shoulder she gave him. He guessed Sarutobi truly was treating him well, they'd even let him keep his Kunai.

He'd once been captured by Kumo and they'd stripped him down to his skin, they'd even inspected his ass to see if he had anything in there before hosing him down and slapped several chakra suppressers on him before locking him up.

Naruto shuddered as he remembered that day.

He spent the next six hours juggling kunai the same way he had in the office while also thinking of anything to pass the time. Times like this he wished he still had Kurama sealed inside him, regretting fully consuming the fox and merging with him. It had given him countless benefits but part of Naruto was gone, the fox had been with him during everything and had been his most true companion.

Just as night started coming over Konoha his door was opened, revealing the same man as before but not the woman. The only way he knew was because this man had the same gauntlets with the curved spike as if made to backhand someone. "No ANBU-chan this time?" asked the cheeky red-haired teen as the ANBU shook his head, you could tell the ANBU was smiling though.

"Thanks for that, been a while since someone pissed her off that bad." the man gave a brief chuckle before composing himself. The man walked over, put his hand on the teen and they were gone in a cloud of smoke and reappeared in the Hokage office, except this time there was an extra occupant of the office Naruto had never expected to see, wife of Shodaime Hokage, original container of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, Mistress of Seals,

Mito Uzumaki.

"Ah, Naruto-kun. Thank you Tora." the Sandaime said as the ANBU disappeared with a nod. "Naruto-kun, this is Mito Uzumaki," the man said as the woman stood and looked at him, her dark eyes peering into his purple orbs. "She is the clan head of the Uzumaki in Konoha." the man said, Naruto already knew about her though. When he'd found about his clan he looked up everything about the Uzumaki he could,

Including Mito Uzumaki.

Kurama had told him about her before he disappeared and he'd said the woman was kind but was a lot stronger than she appeared. Naruto was more amazed by the fact she had sealed the Kyuubi into herself while living.

Kurama had been right in the fact she was regal, something Naruto was confirming now. The woman wore a tight green robe which was hidden away by a loose plain white haori tied together by a green obi with two yellow fans sitting in the back of the sash. Her hair was done into two buns with senbon needles and had a type of tag hanging from each bun. Naruto smirked when he saw the tags, drawing a raised elegant brow from the red-haired woman.

He pointed to the tags. "Explains why I can't sense you. Nifty little thing you got there," he said, Mito gaining a smirk of her own but this one was of a challenge.

"This seal does more than you know clansmen," she said as Naruto maintained his own smirk.

"I know it does but that's rather classified for me to talk about him here." the woman's smirk was gone in moments as she narrowed her eyes at the teen in front of her.

"He's an Uzumaki Saru, I'll take him to the compound," she said as she started walking off with the teen.

"Uh, Mito-sama." the Hokage tried to stop her as the woman turned her head over her shoulder.

"Are you questioning my ability Saru?" asked the woman as Sarutobi blanched slightly before shaking his head in the negative. Mito nodded and soon the two Uzumaki were walking out of the office.

* * *

Naruto sat across from the woman, sitting on the pillow as he tapped his fingers on his knees. The woman had brought him back and the two were sitting there calmly as they waited for something Naruto didn't know. His suspicions were sated as another Uzumaki female came through the door, holding a wooden tray with two cups and a teapot.

The woman set down the tray on the low table between them before placing two bags inside each glass and pouring hot steaming water into them. Naruto gave the woman a grateful smile as he took his cup, watching as the liquid turned brown slowly.

"Thank you Suri." said the woman as the female nodded and soon the two were the only ones in the room. Naruto was grateful for the distraction, it gave him time to think. He was debating whether or not to tell Mito the truth, she would keep it a secret since he knew thanks to the Kyuubi she could keep a secret and he couldn't think of any other way to convince her about him having some of the Kyuubi as well.

"I guess you wanna know how I know about the Kyuubi huh?" asked the teen as he set down his cup, not even taking a sip from it before asking. Mito to her credit didn't even recoil from the shock of him knowing, just nodding as she drank. "Well," go big or go home time. "I have half of the Kyuubi inside of me." said the teen as Mito's pupiless eyes stared hard into his own as she set down her drink.

"That is impossible." said the woman with definity and was soon proven wrong as Naruto channeled some of the chakra, not much but just enough to make his eyes turn red and his whiskers to darken. Mito's eyes widened in shock before they narrowed in suspicion. "How?" asked the woman as Naruto released his hold on the chakra letting it return to his reserves.

"Let me properly introduce myself, Naruto Uzumaki Third Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune." the teen said with his hand raised and his other on his heart. Mito's eyes widened in shock but before she could ask Naruto stopped her with a hand.

"I am from the future, having been sent here with the power of the Rinnegan so I could stop the terrible horrors of the future before they happen. If you want some evidence I can tell you a few things." the man said as the woman slowly nodded, refusing to talk.

"You plan on using Kushina Uzumaki to be the next Jinchuuriki of the Nine-tails." Mito's brow narrowed but she didn't believe him. "Have you ever talked to him?" asked the teen as Mito shook her head as if the mere thought was unthinkable.

"Go into the seal and call him Kurama, you'll get a reaction." the teen said as Mito hesitated, clearly not feeling safe with leaving her body out here with a stranger. "Don't worry, time passes a lot slower in there than out here you'll probably be done by the time I take my next breath." she hesitantly went into the seal and was back the next moment, her eyes wide.

"How do you know its name?" asked the woman as Naruto sighed.

"I already told you, I was his Jinchuuriki and we came to an agreement and I completely absorbed him, well his Yang half." the woman seemed confused as Naruto sighed. "Long story short the Kyuubi got loose in Konoha, my father used the Shiki Fuin and sealed the Yin half in himself and the Yang in me. He died with it still sealed and that's how I have half." the teen said as Mito slowly nods.

"Suri!" the woman called lightly as the woman came a few moments later, having heard the woman down the hall. "Acquire Naruto-kun a room, a change of clothing, and a shower; he will be staying with us while I think over what he's told me." the other woman nodded as Naruto smiled at Mito, leaving after doing so.

Naruto lay in the cot he'd been offered, smiling up at the darkened seeling as he sighed in contentment. He was clean and now in a pretty loose robe he was sure he'd never wear again but he was sleeping in a cot and was clean, a first in a long time. Naruto had also been given a second chance to save the whole world, he couldn't be happier with how things have turned out.

 **So, that's the first chapter of this time traveling fic.**

 **It's gonna be fun. Pairing is gonna be Tsunade and Naruto just so you know but it probably won't happen for a little while. Next chapter we're gonna have Naruto get his answer from Mito along with getting his rank as a shinobi of Konoha. And yeah Naruto's a bit flirty and frisky but he won't be smashing every single chick in the universe.**

 **He might have sex with someone every now and then but I am not making that the pairing, pairing's gonna be Naruto Tsunade it'll just be a bit of a bumpy road along the way.**

 **It's kinda short but most of my prologues are.**


	2. Acceptance

Naruto balanced a kunai on his finger as he sat on his cot, waiting patiently for Mito to come to an answer. He'd been waiting for two days and nights now but he could understand why, it wasn't every day you were told that someone had just come from the future and held half of a Bijuu in them, sent by the power of the eyes of the Rikudou Sennin.

He was fine with waiting, he'd had to wait much longer before in worse situations. This time actually gave him time to think over his plans on what to do about certain things. Nagato had said he and his friends had been taught by Jiraiya while the man was in Ame, he would need to help those three before Jiraiya could.

That had been near the end of the Second War when Jiraiya saved them, giving him plenty of time since the Second War only started a year ago and this war was a seven-year-long war. There were a great many things Naruto could change to save the future, the question was if he could be there in time?

He didn't know the exact dates for a great many things, history had never been his strongest subject so he would have to play it by ear and hope it worked.

He was broken from his thoughts by the door opening, revealing Suri kneeled in front of the door. "Mito-sama will see you now," the woman said, Naruto let a grin come over his face as he pocketed the kunai before standing. He walked past Suri and stepped into the hall, feet taking him down the path to the office he'd left nights ago.

He noticed with some amusement that Suri had blitzed past him and opened the door before he could get there, she took her job as the servant of the Uzumaki very seriously it would seem.

 _A dark-haired woman hurried around the office, putting papers in place and doing numerous things that one should not be able to do in heels while holding a pig in one hand. She raced past a busty blonde and set down some more papers next to her before dashing back to the cabinet and extracting a sake bottle before pouring the blonde's saucer with it, not spilling a drop. The female blonde made a grunt of thanks before the black-haired woman was a tornado of movement again._

 _Naruto stepped into the Hokage office and almost ran right into a hurrying Shizune who was heading out of the office to go do something that needed to be done. Naruto clamped his hands down on the woman's shoulders as he locked his eyes with her own. "Shizune," the man said as the panting woman's eyes flickered back and forth, looking at things that needed to be done. "Breathe," he said slowly as the dark-haired woman finally returned his gaze before shutting her eyes._

 _She took a deep breath before exhaling it through her nose, a small smile now on her face. "Thank you Naruto-kun, I needed that." the woman said as Naruto gave her a kind smile._

 _"I ever told you, that you work too hard?" the man asked with his signature smirk in place, a raised brow out of amusement as the woman shook her head._

 _"Everyone tells me that Naruto-kun, I have to go do a mission for Tsunade-sama I'll be back soon!" she called as she dashed out of the office, never to be seen again by either of those blondes._

Naruto exhaled through his nostrils slightly to repress the memory as he stepped past the woman at the door, face cold as stone now that his mood had been ruined. The door shut behind him as he took a seat on a pillow opposite Mito. The woman held his gaze as she started.

"When you said you returned with the power of the Rinnegan, does that mean you have the Rinnegan?" asked the woman as Naruto shook his head.

"Another Uzumaki did though, he sent me back in time to fix his mistakes after he destroyed Konoha." Mito's brows rose at that, to fully destroy Konoha would take nothing short of the entire Elemental Nations to attack Konoha simultaneously.

"And is he alive at this moment?" she asked as Naruto pondered the question. He technically was alive but he couldn't be older than probably five or maybe even three.

"No, not yet anyway. He won't be born for a little while so you don't have to worry," he said as the elderly woman nodded. She wasn't too old, she was more middle-aged with her grey hair and crows feet with some wrinkles on her forehead. He knew most would live another few decades at her age but with the purple seal on her forehead, there's no telling how much longer she'll be alive.

Mito seemed to accept the answer as she asked her next question. "What were you in your time?" she gained a raised brow from the teen as she realized the vagueness of her question. "Jonnin, Chunnin, Gennin, what?" she asked as Naruto frowned.

"Technically I was supposed to be Hokage but that was before Konoha was going to be destroyed so I guess if you want to count it I was Hokage of Konoha. I was an SS-rank ninja in Kumo and Iwa's BINGO books though so that is another way you could figure that out I guess," he said with a nonchalant shrug as Mito's eyes widened.

"SS-rank? Hashi only barely got that because he killed Madara, what could you have possibly done to achieve that?" she asked as Naruto leveled her with a look she'd only seen in three men, Hashirama when very angry, Tobirama basically all the time, and Madara.

"I summoned over nine hundred Kage Bunshin for a fight against an army of Iwa and Kumo combined, they totaled out to over three thousand. All of my clones went into a meditative pose, gathering the maximum amount of Senjutsu to channel and used themselves as mediums to give me more and more chakra and speed. The enemy army was out by about three hundred feet and they all just kinda watched me, not really sure what I was gonna do so they were kinda cautious but they were also confident.

"Once the clones finished I had over three times the amount of chakra Kyuubi had but the trees in the area had all been decayed and wilted, the grass dead and the soil that was wet was dry. I remember the day, I had felt so powerful and I just didn't even really know how to use that much power and chakra. What I did was I made over five hundred clones but this time they were explosive clones and I sent them out to fight the enemy.

"They killed a lot of them but nowhere near all of them. Then, I just used a jutsu, one jutsu. Do you know what a Futon: Daitoppa is?" asked the red-haired teen as she nodded, it was probably the most well-known wind technique. "Well, since I had such rich and dense chakra in me I made the jutsu and it literally blew most of them off the map. The sheer speed and power behind the jutsu ripped apart most of them and the ones that remained were scattered. Then I-" he was cut off by a hand from the woman.

"I get it, you killed a lot of people and they got scared." she seemed somewhat disgusted if possible. Naruto didn't believe a woman who had lived through the Clan Wars Era **(1)** could be queasy at the mention of men getting ripped apart by the wind.

"Is there anything else you wanted to ask or can I start?" asked the red-haired teen as she looked at him again.

"Would you be completely loyal to Konoha if I were able to make you a shinobi?" before she'd even finished the question he was already nodding and Mito found herself smiling. "You may ask your questions now Naruto," she said as Naruto gave a grateful nod.

"Since I know how you want to seal the Kyuubi into Kushina and I know you know how Jinchuuriki's had problems in their lives no matter what," he saw the quick aversion of the eyes that confirmed his statement. "Well, why not seal it in me?" asked the blonde as she whipped her head around so fast you would think it'd kill her. "I'm used to his chakra, I know how to use it, and I've already had him in me so I know how to deal with him." said the blonde as Mito regarded him cautiously.

"I may trust you to an extent Naruto but I'm not going to give you the most powerful tailed-beast based on some words," she said with a small scowl as Naruto sighed in resignment, he'd expected the answer but it didn't hurt to try.

"What war is happening right now? I know Jiji was the Hokage from the middle of the Second war and on, so either we are in the second or the third." he hoped that they were in the second or else he would most likely be too late.

"We are in the Second War." Mito's face scrunched up in confusion. "Shouldn't you know that?" Naruto turned slightly sheepish as he rubbed the back of his head, some habits survived the war.

"I got sent back but I didn't know when I knew it was while J- Sandaime-sama was in office but didn't know when." he caught himself before calling the man Jiji, he couldn't very well do that to the man's face without much explaining. The red-haired woman nodded slowly before standing from her pillow, Naruto following her as the two stood in front of each other.

If he hadn't spent so much time around Tsunade he would think the woman in front of him was in her early twenties but that was far from the truth. The slight crows feet gathering at the edges of her eye along with how slow she had gotten up along with the slightest of winces when she had stood up. If he knew his history right the woman was probably in her late fifties right now, of course not looking it thanks to their natural Uzumaki vitality.

"I shall talk to Saru about getting you reinstated I'm almost certain he'll have you do some foolish fight though. But I'm sure a ninja of your caliber could take on a mere Jonnin." he heard the teasing and mocking tone in her voice and was actually somewhat shocked the woman was already this comfortable around him. He rolled with it and simply smiled.

"I don't know, been a few decades since I've fought I might be pretty rusty." The woman let out a small laugh as she turned, the melodious sound flowing down the halls as she turned and slid open the door. She turned her head over her shoulder just before she did so, her brown eyes meeting Naruto's amethyst orbs.

"You may leave the estate, but I might suggest not causing too big of a problem before you become a ninja again." with those words the woman was gone, leaving Naruto with his thoughts.

Those thoughts then caught up to the fact he was allowed to leave and bound up with his signature foxy grin.

* * *

Naruto scratched irritably at his neck, he wasn't used to wearing robes. He had to wear robes since that was all that was left in the compound; eerily similar to the Hyuuga compound when he thought about it. So now he was donning a formal kimono top which was loosely tied at the waist, revealing the mesh he wore underneath at the chest. The compound luckily had leggings so he now wore some baggy civilian pants which tied off just a little ways above his sandals.

The Kimono had a blue trim but other than that the whole outfit was dark grey and black, except of course for his necklace. **(2)** He realized that wearing the Shodaime's necklace out in the open like this was fairly risky but he didn't care, it helped his chakra control and looked nice while also being a reminder of his past time.

Future time?

He shook his head, too good of a day for philosophy. He was having a strange and good day. In his time he had always been looked at in one of three ways, indifferently, disgustingly, or in awe. No one treated him averagely in his previous time and experiencing it now was a strange feeling.

This was also a whole village, a very different image from the one he'd been seeing for the past few years. He'd been seeing his village in war or in ruins, everyone had been remorse and serious because of the times. But even though the village was in war now the atmosphere was electric and lively, it was...nice.

He abruptly stopped as he smelled a very good smell and turned his head, being greeted by a woman walking out of a shop, a steaming bowl of food in her hand. He had already passed her and had walked into the now identified food shop.

Soon the teen was seated at a booth, dipping sticks of dumplings into a sweet sauce before they vanished into the hungry mouth of the war veteran. Before he could even take another bite someone slid into the seat in front of him and he had to resist the urge to reach for a kunai, stopping when he caught the eye of the person across from him,

Mirumi.

The woman had a frown on her face that instantly cried danger inside of Naruto. "A-Ah, hey Mirumi-chan," he said sheepishly as he set down the skewer of Dango and the woman narrowed her eyes at him, despite his handsome look in the black robes she maintained her anger.

"And where were you yesterday hm?" the accountant questioned him and Naruto found himself scratching the back of his head with one hand while he awkwardly chuckled, a habit that had refused to leave.

"Mito dragged me into the compound and wouldn't let me leave, clan business and all that. I tried to go to you after but she kept shooting me down, saying the clan was more important but I think you're more important Mirumi-chan." he flirted, slipping into a more foxy grin than the one he'd had on previously. The answer to his flirt was a good one, proven by the rosy blush the woman gained as she averted her gaze to the dumplings in front of him.

He pushed the saucer and tray of food to the woman across from him, leaning back into his chair with a smile as the brunette looked up at him, confusion evident on her face. "Sorry for not coming to get you back then, can this baka make it up to you with a date?" her blush returned in full force as she nodded again, rubbing her elbow with her other arm. "Then here, let's have a dango midday date," he said as he pushed the saucer again right to her.

The tension and awkwardness broke away and soon the two were laughing and dining as if they had known each other their whole lives. Eventually, sake was broken out and while Naruto could still on a technical sense be affected by the liquor, it would take more than standard sake. Mirumi was not so fortunate and was as good as wasted, resulting in her becoming very flirtatious which was an effect of the liquor.

Naruto found himself being very awkward around her as she got more and more... ambitious. He was saved luckily enough by the form of a Hokage and clan head.

A hand landed on Mirumi's shoulder causing her to stop mid-flirt. "Can't ya see we're bizzy? Go away-" she was abruptly cut off by herself as she caught sight of the amused man whose hand was on her shoulder; causing the girl to shoot up and bump the table while trying to salute but Hiruzen simply waved her away, or he was trying to wave away the stench of sake.

"You are not in trouble Mirumi **(3)** just get home safe and try and treat that hangover before you get to work in the morning." the woman gave hurried nods all the way to the door before she was gone. Hiruzen slid into the booth she had previously occupied, Mito joining him a moment later as the two stared at Naruto who gave them a grin.

"Thanks, she can't really handle her drinks can she?" he asked with a chuckle as Hiruzen shook his head.

"It would seem Mirumi has not yet accustomed herself to drinking just yet. But onto the reason we came to find you, I have decided to grant you a shinobi pass if you can answer me two questions correctly." Naruto furrowed his brow at the requirement but it made sense, not everyone could just waltz in and become a shinobi in the middle of a war. Naruto gave the brown-haired man a nod and he returned the gesture before reaching into his robes and pulling out a Konoha headband, setting it on the table as he did so.

"Put into a situation where you had a choice, finish a crucial mission and return information that could help win the war or save your teammate which would you choose?" Naruto frowned thoughtfully as he thought over the question. The teen seemed to toss it back and forth in his head before looking into Hiruzen's dark eyes.

"If I save my teammate does that mean I would also bring back the information?" asked the teen as Hiruzen shook his head.

"You can only carry one."

"What are my teammate's rank and position?" asked the teen as both Hiruzen and Mito raised a brow before exchanging looks.

"It does not matter, choose-" The Sandaime was cut off.

"It does matter, I cannot make a choice without knowing the variables."

"Fine, he is a gennin and this is his first mission to the front and you are his Jonnin sensei."

"Would the information end the war?" Hiruzen narrowed his eyes at the red-haired teen in front of him.

"You don't know, you weren't told what the scroll would entail."

Naruto leaned deeper into the cushioned seats, closing his eyes in thought as he did so. Time seemed to crawl by as the two in front of him waited for his answer. "Is the gennin an Uchiha or Hyuuga member?" asked the time-traveler, never opening his eyes.

"No, they are civilian born." Naruto let out a sigh as he straightened in his seat. "However, this should not influence your decision." The Sandaime said but Naruto shook his head.

"I would leave them behind and continue onwards to Konoha to secure the information." Hiruzen was frowning heavily and even Mito had a small frown on her face.

"Incorrect, onto-"

"That is pure foolishness." the amethyst eyes opened and were revealed to the two in front of him, their hardness anew as they stared down the Sandaime. "If I were to return and save the gennin, the war could potentially be lost later on and countless shinobi would have died, leading to the gennin I saved probably dying as well and I would be risking the lives of countless Shinobi. I wish I did not have to lose my gennin but if I have to sacrifice one shinobi; no matter who they are I will do so again."

Hiruzen's frown was still firm on his face but it had lessened some as Naruto's words ran through his head. He shook his head as he returned Naruto's gaze. "Even yourself?"

"Especially myself."

 _Naruto glared at the pair in front of him. Sakura, Kiba, Hinata, Shino, and Konohamaru behind him as they also tried to glare at the pair in front of them but were failing miserably. The reason for their glare? In front of them stood two of the strongest men in the war,_

 _A and B, Kumo's Killer Kombo **(4)**_

 _"Out of respect of your old man, I'll give you the offer to surrender." the Yondaime Raikage definitely cut an intimidating figure with his bulging muscles and gargantuan height, his lightning armor didn't exactly look comforting either. Naruto's defensive stance simply strengthened as he crouched slightly lower, a tanto in one hand as it was held in a reverse grip._

 _"Shino I'm leaving you in charge, take them back to Konoha and tell Baa-chan what's happening," his eyes didn't leave A's and he did not ignore B either, a Kage Bunshin in the trees made sure of that. The downside was they were in a rather large clearing, the trees being a formidable distance away so it would take some time before it could reach them._

 _He couldn't see it but he was certain Shino gave a nod, that's why he chose Shino the teen knew how to keep his emotions in check and when to act properly. Buzzing soon filled his ears as the bugs surrounded Konohamaru who would have refused to have left Naruto's side. Soon, the boy was unconscious with no chakra remaining and Shino put the boy on Akamaru's back but Konohamaru was not the only problem._

 _"And what makes you think I'll let them go?" asked the lightning armor user with a raised brow and to anyone else he seemed carefree but Naruto saw the subtle twitches his muscles gave to the command of him being ready to dart at a moments notice._

 _"What makes you think we're gonna go!" shouted Kiba with a snarl on his face as he darted forward at A but just as he was about to pass Naruto the teen clotheslined him before he could even get a bit farther. The brown-haired boy spluttered indignantly as he tried to blink the stars out of his eyes from the hit. "What the-"_

 _"Sorry Kiba, this isn't your fight," Naruto said as a Kage Bunshin poofed into existence from the sealless command of its master and Kiba was helped up by the clone and was shoved to Shino who wrapped an arm around his teammate, efficiently making him very tired as his chakra and stamina was sapped away._

 _"N-Naruto-kun" Hinata attempted to speak up to her crush but a shake of the head from the blonde stopped her as she hung her head. Just as Sakura was about to protest A flashed in front of her, lightning fist cocked back as he bore over the pinkette._

 _"TIME'S UP!" he boomed as he swung at the pinkette who was roughly shoved out of the way just in time as the hit struck true, sending a figure careening into a nearby tree which knocked down the tree and revealed Naruto in a light Kyuubi cloak, no tails yet but the cloak was there along with the red eyes that accompanied it. The teen had a massive hole in the front of his jacket revealing the burnt and red flesh behind it, the effects not nearly as bad as it would have without the cloak._

 ** _"GO!"_** _his demonic voice roared at her and soon Hinata had grabbed Sakura and with tears in both of their eyes they dashed away with Shino and Akamura following and as they dashed away Naruto stood in their wake, ensuring their safety as they did so._

 _"Che, so much like your old man it's scary. But he could keep up with me, this is gonna be easy!" he roared as he banged his gold wrists together. Naruto simply crouched low in reply, his arms forming an x over his chest as two more tails of the cloak formed over him. His tanto lay forgotten in the dirt as both men dashed forward, meeting in the middle with Naruto hitting A in the gut with a kick which didn't even phase the gargantuan man._

 _A responded by grabbing the limb and throwing him to B who dashed forward, arm extended as he did so._

 ** _"Lariat!"_**

 _B's arm struck true and reduced the log to splinters as he halted to a stop, both brothers staring at each other as they waited for Naruto to show himself. He suddenly reappeared at B's side, kunai in hand as he sliced for the man's neck which he deftly leaped away from and joined his brother side by side. "You fight the two brothers A and B, this is gonna be a good fight WHEEE!" the Eight-tails Jinchuuriki rhymed as he raised one arm with both pinky and index finger extended. Soon, a matching orange cloak came over him and eight tails swung to and fro around him._

 _"You did a good thing saving those kids but it was foolish, brave but dumb as hell." the Raikage lamented as his lightning armor intensified._

 _"Don't count me out just yet!" The teen was suddenly gone and reappeared in front of the Raikage in a flash of Bijuu-enhanced speed, a tainted red spiraling orb flashing in one hand as he thrust for the man._

 ** _"RASENGAN!"_**

 _He yelled as he thrust forward but before it could even really grind into the armor he was forced to abandon the orb as B dashed through his previous position, single sword drawn as he tried to catch the teen off-guard._

 _"Don't you underestimate me, I'm the legendary Bee!" he suddenly drew every sword on his person and threw them up, landing in weird places amongst his body as the surprisingly stayed everywhere and despite the sword in his mouth the man still spoke. "I float like a butterfly sting like a bee, let's roll out WHEEE!"_

Neither Hiruzen nor Mito missed the flash of pain and sorrow over the man's face when he said those words but both decided not to push him on it. "The second question is as follows," Naruto's eyes refocused on Hiruzen's own as the redhead recollected himself.

"Why Konoha?"

The simple question threw the teenager off as he blinked rapidly to try and wrap his head around the question he was just asked. "What do you mean exactly Hokage-san?" asked the teen, confusion written on his face clear as day.

"I mean why did you choose Konoha? You could have chosen anywhere but you chose to go to Konoha, why?" asked the man and Naruto could tell there was a right answer just from the look on Hiruzen's face. He probably thought he was a spy from Kiri or something along those lines.

"I have family here in Konoha." This was not wrong, his mother was in Konoha. "And since Konoha and Uzu were allies it makes sense for me to come here does it not?" asked the teen with a head tilt, making it seem as if he was answering a stupid question. Hiruzen seemed to buy the answer easily enough and nodded before letting out a sigh. The man seemed to unwind before Naruto's eyes as he relaxed into the booth he sat in.

The red-haired woman finally chose this moment to join the conversation. "Congratulations Naruto-kun, you are now a shinobi of Konoha," she said with a kind smile, something Naruto returned with his own foxy grin before reaching forward and grabbing the headband, tying it over his forehead as he did so.

"Of course to actually give you a good rank you'll have to prove yourself worthy of a rank you deserve. An opponent waits for you in Training Ground Seven, I will-" before Hiruzen could even finish Naruto was holding up a ram seal and was gone in a smoke shunshin. Hiruzen frowned as his head drooped. "Disrespectful people these days..." he bemoaned as Mito simply laughed and the two were gone in leaf shunshin's off their own.

* * *

Hiruzen and Mito came to a very peculiar sight as Mito rounded on Hiruzen. "YOU CHOSE HIM!" she screeched as Hiruzen dipped his head slightly.

"He's just a gennin..."

"One who can open every single one of the eight gates! He could beat _you_ if he wanted to!" she yelled as she pointed her finger at him.

Despite the screeching and yelling the two Kage-level shinobi went unheard to the other three in the middle of the clearing. "YOSH! Watch us Gai, and learn from our youthfulness!" Might Dai **(5)** boomed as he did jumping jacks in front of his opponent, his son next to him nodding in excitement.

"Hai! Mighto Dai! MIGHTO DAI! MIGHTO!" the boy yelled exuberantly in happiness as his father nodded, not stopping his jumping jacks which went at an inhuman pace. The third decided to make his presence known at that moment with a couch into his hand. The two turned their attention to him and the older of the two smiled brightly as he bounded over and got in a Nice Guy pose.

"Hello, my youthful comrade! Are you going to be my opponent today!" his teeth sparkled impossibly brightly as the red-haired teen nodded with a smile. "Ah! It is my pleasure to make your acquaintance, I am Might Dai! And who would you be fellow shinobi?" the man's volume had not yet gone down which would have gotten to most by now but Naruto accepted the eccentrics with a smile.

Gai had been the only remaining person he had known from Konoha who hadn't died in his time and when it is just the two of you, you warm up to the green beast. Gai's father looked very similar to Gai but not clone-level like Lee did. His hair had the same shine but it fanned out to the sides as opposed to the bowl-cut Gai had. The man also had facial hair with sideburns going past his ears and a light fringe connecting his square goatee to the sideburns with a wide mustache and equally wide eyebrows.

Naruto thrust his hand forward, a megawatt smile on his face as he did so. "Naruto Uzumaki nice to meet ya Dattebayo!" His excitement at meeting the creator of Youth got the better of him as he did this and his verbal tic came out on accident. Might Dai's massive smile seemed to get even bigger as he thrust his hairy hand into Naruto's hand and the handshake was like brushes coming into contact with the amount of callus' the two had on their hands.

"Ah I see you train a lot, your youth must be quite bright with how much you train!" Once upon a time Gai and Naruto had gotten very drunk in a bar to try and forget the sorrow of losing their friends, during this Gai had accidentally let slip the fact that 'Youth Speech' as he called it was an actual way of speaking taught to him by his father and him to Lee.

Hiruzen and Mito came over and stood next to the two, preying Dai hadn't scared off Naruto. Before they could even say anything Naruto did so himself.

"Sadly I am nearing Autumn Dai-san, perhaps you can help me return to Springtime and save me from perilous Fall?" asked the teen, watching as Dai's eyes widened in shock before a more natural and easy-going smile came over his lips. Dai dashed back from the teen, putting space between them as he slipped into his strong fist style.

"As a fellow Youth enthusiast it is my duty to make sure your youth is returned to its maximum brightness!" yelled the man as he turned to his son. "Watch a match between two Youth enthusiast's Gai!"

"Come Sandaime-sama, start the match." the teen said as he slipped into a style he had learned from the scrolls of his families home,

The Hummingbird style of the Yondaime Hokage.

"Your style is splendid friend, I can see no holes inside of it Naruto-kun. Truly the work of a very youthful man!" Dai complimented the teen while Naruto maintained his grin.

"Your own is nothing to scoff at Dai, you are truly in the springtime of your youth!" And without even getting permission to start from Hiruzen the two dashed at each other, meeting in the middle as Dai punched away Naruto's jab and went for his own punch to the gut which Naruto evaded around and slid into a sweeping kick, planning to unbalance Dai.

The leotard-wearer hopped over the low kick but Naruto capitalized on his midair state and used his hands to propel himself upwards and kick at the Taijutsu expert with both feet. Dai was not able to dodge and simply brought up his knees to block the blow, the strike hitting his orange leg warmers as a result.

Dai didn't so much as wince from the blow as he flipped and landed smoothly across from Naruto who landed in a crouch himself, a grimace on his face. "Blocking with your training weights, well played Dai." the teen said as said Gennin gave him a blinding smile before the two exploded into motion once more.

Dai was on the offensive this time and came into view with an ax-kick bearing right over Naruto's head. The teen was not going to be fast enough to dodge this one and Dai was triumphant as he swung his heavy blow down on the red-haired teen's position with a massive plume of dust following the attack.

When it became apparent the group started scanning the field, waiting for Naruto to show himself. The robe-wearing teen soon came into view as he walked in front of Dai, appearing from the tree line as he smirked at the older man. "Since I'm in robes it's not really a fair fight for taijutsu is it Dai?" asked the teen and before the man could even reply Naruto answered himself. "Good thing Taijutsu isn't the only part of being a shinobi."

 **"Fuuton: Daitoppa!"** a voice boomed from behind Dai as strong winds ripped through the clearing, rocketing Dai forward from the unexpected attack. Naruto stood there, chakra sticking to the ground, with a kunai raised to impale the green leotard-wearing man.

Dai grabbed Naruto's hand that held the kunai and used it to launch himself over the teen and landed on the ground, sticking to the ground as the wind slowly went away. Naruto kept his eyes on the gennin in front of him as he spoke, "Hey Mito this kimono isn't expensive or anything is it?" Mito shook her head in the negative but Naruto was not watching her, something she realized a few moments later.

"I have never seen that particular kimono so I can not-" before she was even finished it had already been shucked by Naruto who had thrown it to the side, leaving himself bare from the waist up. He rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck, something he took pleasure in based on the sigh he gave.

"Let's go, Dai!" All that was left of the teen was his words in the wind as he reappeared at the man's side, fist cocked back with a maniacal grin on his face. Dai could barely put up a half block before the strike hit, causing the man to bumble back from the strength behind the tanned teen's hit. Dai hadn't even fully stopped before Naruto again reappeared at his side, grabbing him by the leg before throwing him up with a grunt of exertion.

Two clones puffed into existence next to him before they turned almost instantly into kunai which he then threw up at speeds most Chunnin could not track. They got near Dai just as he was starting to lose momentum and one turned back into a clone before grabbing onto the man with both hands to his arm, doing a spin before throwing him up again, dispelling as it's task was done.

Dai again started to slow in his climb and the final kunai was not transformed but was kawarami'd by the real Naruto who was now inches above Dai. The teen raised his right leg in a dramatic gesture before bringing it down at break-neck speeds and hitting the man across the gut in a vicious ax kick that sent him down at speeds that broke the sound barrier.

A cry of 'Tou-san!' was the only thing heard before Dai hit the dirt in an explosion of debris, rocks, dirt, and dust. Naruto landed outside of the dome of smoke in a soft kneel as he panted slightly from the exertion before standing and staring at the dust. A wild breeze went by and dispersed the dust, revealing the ten-foot-deep crater and at the center was Dai, standing and grinning brightly.

One would think nothing is wrong with him based on the way he acted but the single line of blood leaking from his hairline and down to his jaw alone with the scuff marks and tears in his clothing made the opposite clear. "Quite youthful Naruto-kun, but it is time for our springtime of youth to explode and bestow upon our comrades the true beauty of our strength!" the man yelled before doing a front flip out of the crater and landing on the opposite side of the crater, facing the shirtless teen.

Dai then lifted up his leg warmers, revealing the cloth covered weights that had numerous squiggles and words of Kanji written on each bar. Naruto actually slightly blanched at what the words said. The man unshackled them from his ankles and they clunked onto the ground as if they were bricks. "H-Hey Dai w-we don't-" Naruto's pitiful attempts at stopping the man were for naught as the man raised his arm and gave a beaming smile and a thumbs-up.

"Yosh! Let us explode Naruto-kun!" the man boomed and along with him, his speed boomed.

* * *

 **Seemed like a good place to stop, here's you guys' second chapter. Didn't get to his Shinobi rank like I said but I still don't know how I exactly want to do this 'spar' between Dai and Naruto.**

 **(1) Mito married Hashirama like five years before the end of Clan Wars in this Fic.**

 **(2) I like the necklace too much to get rid of it, it also makes some kind of interaction with the NaruTsu when she finds out he has a necklace too.**

 **(3) I realize that in Naruto, Hiruzen called everyone with a Chan or Kun at the end but he hasn't reached that age yet so he's just like everyone else and only calls some with a chan or kun.**

 **(4) I just wanted to call the Kumo's Killer Kombo because it sounded cool and turning a c into k was the decision. This isn't a KKK reference or anything just how I decided to do that.**

 **(5) I looked on Narutopedia and in Part One of Naruto Gai was 26 and in Part One Jiraiya was 50. So Dai was probably about as old as them so this is a bit out there but it's how this story is going.**


	3. War

**Rickjames196: A different timeline is similar to a different dimension, Naruto merely going to the past at all completely changes the entire future and as a result, his previous timeline ceases to exist, at least that's how I see it.**

 **Guest55: You are correct, but them going to Kiri to try and become fishers is a lot more simple than them going to Konoha when they most likely didn't have the time to gather enough supplies to make the journey to the middle of Hi no Kuni.**

 **RinnePotter726: I said they have been born but Naruto merely told Mito that they hadn't too ease her worries. They are roughly seven or nine right now at this time in the story. So Gai would be around four years old, which runs with the story.**

 **Lord Above All: This chapter answers the first part. But no, he is not immortal for having fully absorbed Kyuubi. It is an interesting concept but he merely fully absorbed its chakra, which is all the Kyuubi really is, a big mass of chakra. He, of course, gained the abilities such as a Bijuudama and others but I more than likely won't be touching on that too much.**

 **InfinityMask: Naruto may or may not have chakra chains. Kiri did participate in the destruction of Uzu but Kiri is extremely close to Uzu and all the islands surrounding Uzu are a part of Kiri, making it much easier to go to Kiri instead of Konoha.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto franchise.**

* * *

The clearing was silent as they stared at the line of trees broken down by Naruto's body, not even in view of the group any more due to the distance he'd traveled from that one blow by the very strong Gennin.

"DAI!" Mito's feminine rage made the man cringe as he dipped his head to the woman, fear racking him. "You need to learn to control your-" She was cut off by a laugh, hollow and almost broken, sounding through the clearing as it eminated from the crater Naruto was in. The man emerged, a large purple bruise on his cheek which slowly faded away as if it was never even there. The man had a smile on his face but it did not reach his eyes, not even slightly.

"I have not had a sparring partner hit me like that in a long time," his voice trailed off at the end as if he remembered something from the past, forgetting where he was. At that moment you were able to see past the arrogance and chipper attitude he held up at all times to reveal the bottomless pit of despair inside of him. Just as soon as it appeared though, it was hidden again as if the curtains were shut over an act that was yet to come.

The teen raised his arm up to scratch the back of his head as he gave off a laugh, this one sounding chipper and kind while he gave them a wide closed-eye smile. "Sorry, I didn't mean to say what I said Dai-san. If anything, your youth is shaking off the cold of Winter and embracing the coming Spring." Dai gave the man a smile, gears turning in his head as he regarded the Shinobi hopeful before him.

"Nonsense Naruto-kun! My flames were beginning to dim but you have stroked them back to their maximum height!" The man exclaimed as almost everyone in the clearing was disturbed by how he'd said what he'd said. Naruto gave him an awkward smile, watching as the man and his son engaged in a shouting match before darting off in pursuit of exercise. The man turned when he saw Hiruzen standing in front of him, looking apologetic with a hint of fearful of the woman standing behind him who had narrowed eyes.

"I-I apologize for putting you against such a strong opponent Naruto if you wish we can take you to the hospital-" He was cut off by Naruto who waved a hand in dismissal of what the man said as he gave him a foxy smirk.

"I'm fine! See?" The teen gestured to where he'd been hit which had healed up perfectly, returning to its normal tan complexion which prompted Hiruzen to give a skeptical nod. Naruto walked off a few feet to grab his robe, "Besides," he called over his shoulder, "I've always been a good healer, the people at the hospital probably couldn't do any better anyway!" he hollered as he slipped on the robe.

"Oh?" Spoke a voice, one which made Naruto stiffen. "Someone thinks themselves a grand healer hm?" Naruto turned while tying the robe, looking up through his hair to the group of three that had entered the clearing. "Want to put it to the test?" Naruto gave the blonde a smirk, but on the inside, he was crying, whether it be from happiness or sadness he knew not.

Jiraiya, Tsunade Senju, and Orochimaru; the future Densetsu no Sannin. The three were both similar and different from the one of his time. Jiraiya was the same except instead of having a scroll on his back and extravagant clothing, he wore standard armor that most Konoha shinobi wore. He still seemed kind, still seemed pervy, and still seemed like a sage.

Orochimaru had a bigger change, his smirk didn't seem malicious. Naruto was probably fighting every natural reflex to lunge forward and blow the man's head off but he relented knowing that this was before he became twisted and cruel.

Still wanted to kill him though.

The man had virtually no changes to him besides the fact he had on a cloak, shinobi armor, and a hitai-ate. The physical change was not as large as the mental and spiritual. This was Orochimaru, not a body that he had possessed, not a corpse, not Sasuke, Orochimaru. The man seemed genuine and he did not look like he had an ulterior motive to be here, he was simply here with his team. While Naruto did not know if he could trust him or not, he did know that this was a different and better Orochimaru.

Tsunade was... attractive. That was a thought he probably never thought would pass through his head but it was and it was a good thought. She had on the same armor as her teammates which told Naruto that they had all just arrived from a mission. Her long blonde hair was tied into the two low twintails. She had the Konoha hitai-ate across her forehead and two long bangs framing her face.

Her honey-colored amber eyes had an arrogant look in them that showed Naruto the past Tsunade, the Tsunade who had not yet been swallowed in grief. Her features were softer than they were in his own time, the constant tension and frustration from before wasn't there so not only was she physically much younger but mentally as well.

He could also tell that the aging jutsu wasn't in effect because she seemed even younger than the jutsu made her look. He broke out of these thoughts and stared at her through his hair, his smirk cocky and arrogant.

"Hit me with all you've got, _hime._ " Eyebrows were raised from the three Sannin.

"You know us?" asked Orochimaru, his narrow eyes were narrowed even further in suspicion.

"But of course, the prodigious squad of Hiruzen Sarutobi. Orochimaru, your abilities cover almost every field of Ninjutsu and you excel at all of them. You also hold the snake contract and are considered the best prodigy Konoha's had in years." The pale man seemed slightly surprised by the flattery and knowledge but did not have time to question it.

"Jiraiya, you were considered a fool by all and were called an idiot your entire gennin life," Jiraiya seemed ready to protest. "But you went to train with the toads and came back on par with Orochimaru himself, your strength speaks for itself as you are the only recorded Sage in Shinobi record outside of the Shodai Hokage himself." Jiraiya seemed satisfied and puffed out his chest in pride.

"And Tsunade Senju. The beautiful princess of the Senju clan, you are considered the greatest healer in the Elemental Nations with legendary healing capabilities that are said to be on par with Hashirama Senju's own, when he was alive. Your super strength is also known far and wide with your fantastic ability to control your chakra so well as to expell it on the moment of your punch making it seem as if your strength is monstrous but it simply all chakra control." They all seemed impressed by his knowledge. "And Tsunade," his grin became similar to a hyena. "It's said you have the biggest breastplate in the nations as well."

Tsunade seemed to swell up with rage as her teammates and even Hiruzen blanched. Naruto spread his arms wide as if welcoming the attack, everyone but the two of them watched in rapt attention as Tsunade crossed the distance in moments with her arm cocked back and ready to punch. "PERVERT!" she screamed as she punched him in the gut with all her strength, sending him flying back into the trees with a smirk on her face.

* * *

Naruto stood across from Hiruzen, his hands in his pockets and his form slouched as he stared at the brown-haired Kage. At the moment, it was just the two of them and they had their privacy as a result. Hiruzen sighed with a shake of his head before reaching into his desk, pulling out a headband and throwing it on the desk.

Naruto grinned and snatched it off the desk, tying it across his forehead with a smirk as Hiruzen nodded. "You won't regret this, believe it!" he exclaimed as Hiruzen rolled his eyes.

"I already am." he murmured before reaching to the side of the desk and grabbing a blank scroll. He got a pen and started writing on it, speaking as he did so. "I'm sending you to the Suna border, you'll meet up with our encampment there and take orders from my teammate," he spoke as he finished with a scratch of his pen, rolling the scroll up before sealing it with his official stamp.

He handed it to the shinobi in front of him and as Naruto tried to take it, Hiruzen held on. "Listen to Danzo, he may seem cruel but he gets good results." And with those words, he let go of the scroll as the teen stepped back, shoving it in his pockets.

He'd gotten an outfit similar yet not to his old one. It still had orange and black but the color tones were in entirely different proportions, it was almost entirely black with an orange trim lining both sides of the zipper and down the middles of his sleeves. His pants were similar with a single orange line down the sides that connected to the top he had on with a mesh undershirt hidden under his high collar.

"I expect you to leave as soon as possible, no fooling around and definitely no hitting on my subordinates," he spoke with a light glare, obviously teasing yet serious. Naruto shrugged with a smirk as he started walking back to the door.

"I can't help it, they're so pretty ya know?" he asked as Hiruzen gave a snort of amusement before Naruto left with a chuckle and a wave as he exited the office. He shut the door behind him and looked over and saw Mirumi sitting behind the desk, she didn't know he was there. He leaned over her shoulder and took satisfaction in the gasp she gave before he leaned his face into her neck, inhaling her pleasant scent as she gradually turned more and more red.

"N-Naruto-kun, you can't be doing that out here!" she squeaked as he chuckled, his lips leaving light kisses on her neck as she shuddered in pleasure.

"Then why don't we just get behind a closed door?" he asked as she somehow turned even more red as she looked down to see his intense stare of longing and heat. "I'm gonna be gone for a long time," he murmured as he nudged her with his nose. "We won't be gone too long," he smirked at what he said. "I think." she continued to try and splutter out a response when she suddenly saw a carbon copy of herself standing right in front of her.

"H-How?" she asked as Naruto smirked.

"Kage Bunshin combined with Henge, Hokage-sama won't even know your gone," he whispered as her resolve faded away, causing the man behind her to smirk as he wrapped his arm around her waist and disappeared in a shunshin, leaving the clone to sit down in the chair and take her place.

Thirty minutes later we find Naruto laying down on a bed, Mirumi draped over his chest as he chuckled. "And you didn't wanna do this," he spoke as she whipped her head to him, a slight scowl on her face as she stared at him with a smirk.

"I never said that I just didn't want to get in trouble with Hokage-sama; I don't want to lose my job, not all of us are elite shinobi you know?" she stated as he shrugged his shoulders before sighing in disappointment.

"Well I gotta go now," he said as she hummed and wrapped her arms around his midsection, causing the teen to chuckle as he lightly peeled her arms off, locking his hands with hers. "I'll see ya around Mirumi-chan!" he exclaimed and suddenly disappeared, causing the girl to blink as she turned around and saw that he already had his pants on causing her to blink again before sighing and laying her face down in the bed.

He finished getting dressed, tying on his headband after and turned around to see her face planted in the bed. He chuckled as he came up and patted her butt, causing the woman to yelp in surprise as she looked at him as he smirked at her. "Go on, you've got a job to do little miss." he teased before giving her a two-fingered salute and walking out the door, shutting it with a soft click as he slowly left the house.

Naruto sighed as he rolled his neck, getting a few satisfying crunches and pops out of it as he did so before dashing off to leave the village. This wasn't new to him, he left the village all the time and could spend weeks to months in camps out in foreign lands away from home.

But now it was different because this was the first time he'd be leaving in this time and it gave him a strange sense of nostalgia that he couldn't really place. He shook his head of the stray thoughts as he resumed running, hoping to get to Suna as quickly as possible.

* * *

He ran a hand through his shaggy hair as he stood on the edge of the camp, he was a part of the watch duty and he didn't hate it so much as he wasn't used to it. He'd always been the person to assign others to watch duty, not get it himself.

Danzo was quite different from what he knew the man as since he hadn't lost the eye and he didn't use the cane but he still had a sour attitude. It was currently around three pm and he was bored, it was hot and dry which had made him very dry and annoyed by the lack of hydrant in the air.

That's when he saw it, a slight gleam of metal in the distance. His eyes narrowed before he focused on the area, suddenly seeing shifting beige and brown, causing him to widen his eyes.

He quickly channeled chakra to his throat as he turned back to the camp behind him.

 **"AMBUSH!"** he screamed, watching as men started rising from their tents and others started flashing to his side, seeing what Naruto had seen as the Suna force made themselves known and suddenly hundreds of Suna ninja rose from the sand near a hundred feet away from them. Danzo appeared at his side as well and nodded as he narrowed his eyes before turning to the men and women around them, the whole camp now stood there.

"Jonnin and Chunnin with me! Gennin, stay here and make sure they don't invade the camp!" he hollered and the ninja dashed away to go fight and Naruto scowled, wanting to fight as he knew he was stronger than most likely anyone on this field and while Danzo's decision made some sense, it was still wrong and yet Naruto had to follow it if he wanted to remain a shinobi.

He watched as the forces fought when his blood ran cold as he saw two things that none could have possibly predicted. The Ichibi Jinchuuriki, using his sand to drown in his opponents, and the Sandaime Kazekage using his iron to crush his own opponents. Konoha had had the number advantage so it hadn't made sense why Suna would attack them but now it was obvious.

He watched as dozens upon hundreds of Konoha shinobi were engulfed in the sand and iron, and soon three ran back as their fellow Konoha shinobi died defending them. It was two obviously injured men holding Danzo by the shoulders as he bled from one eye and had dozens of cuts and knicks on him.

Naruto watched as near a dozen shinobi returned, a grim sight compared to the thousand that had left. He watched as a gennin near him fell to his knees, his eyes looking lost as he stared at the seemingly unsurpassable wall in front of them known as the Suna force. He listened as the boy, no older than thirteen, mumbled how they had lost and how they were doomed and he watched as several around him were on shaking legs.

Naruto could understand these emotions but as soon as one of them turned around to run, that was when he'd decided it was time for him to act. He hauled the gennin on his knees up to his feet, surprising the boy as he stared at Naruto with lost eyes. Naruto threw a kunai in front of the gennin retreating, stopping him cold.

"I understand your fear and despair," he spoke as the Suna force slowly started advancing their way, having finally finished off the final amounts of shinobi they encountered, leaving near two hundred left to defend the camp. "But if you retreat, then we're letting that in our country!" he hollered as he pointed a finger at the Suna force that had shred through them like wet paper in a storm.

"If you're going to fall, do it like a man!" he boomed as all heads near him turned to him. "Don't fall backwards, fall forwards in the name of Konoha! Because if we won't do it then it'll be the civilians that do it for us!" he realized that none of the shinobi wished to fight yet, causing the teen to narrow his eyes as he stepped forward towards the Suna force.

He listened as the Konoha force continued to run further into the camp, hoping they'd be able to outrun the Suna force. Naruto had finally gotten close enough that the Suna shinobi noticed him, and a single Suna shinobi appeared in front of him, a sword raised to cut him down but Naruto cut off his head before he even moved.

The Suna force stopped as a wave of Killing Intent washed over them all, stronger and denser than even the Ichibi's. They stared at the lone Konoha shinobi who stood in front of them all, he'd picked up the sword from the corpse of the Suna shinobi and now had it fanned to his right as he stared right into the Kazekage's eyes.

"Watch, as I show you just how truly far out of your league I am!" he boomed before disappearing in a sonic boom and soon all they saw was a shock of crimson hair blazing through their forces, blood following him as he went and tore through their ranks.

Naruto slashed open a man's chest as he turned on his foot, running the sword through the neck of another and leaving it there, picking up the scythe the man had had in his hands and twirling it behind him to stab a shinobi in the side of the head before drawing a kunai from his pouch and throwing it to his right, catching a puppeteer in the throat before ducking as a sword sailed harmlessly over his head.

He shot a kick right up into the man's jaw and snapped his neck from the blow as the man fell to the ground like a lifeless doll. Naruto lept high in the air as a cloud of iron waved right through his previous location but normal sand caught him in the air, completely enveloping him and crushing him, causing blood to splash out.

Their attention was returned to Naruto when they saw him standing where a Suna shinobi had just stood, having used the Kawarimi to replace himself with the man.

Naruto reached forward and ripped a battle fan right out a shinobi's hands before flipping it open and spinning in a complete circle before fanning it hard in the direction of the Kazekage, furious winds flying with the strength of a tornado ripped through the shinobi force as their blood flew into the air and painted the sands red whilst the Kazekage himself merely blocked it with his iron and completely negated the attack.

Naruto then dashed back as sand jumped from the floor he was standing on and he landed on another shinobi and snapped his neck before ripping the kunai out of the man's hands as he used it to stab another in the neck then ripped it out, causing a spurt of warm blood to spray him in the face before he lashed out with the kunai to his right and caught another shinobi right in the eye and the knife was buried up to the hilt in his head.

Naruto turned back around with his cold violet stare as he looked at the path of carnage he'd left in his wake, the Kazekage and Jinchuuriki watching him analytically but it seemed they were no longer intent on interfering and it seemed the Jinchuuriki was still sickened by the fact he'd killed a fellow Suna shinobi if the hands on his head were any indication.

Naruto had to dodge a barrage of poison darts that blasted the area he'd just occupied but was then stabbed in the shoulder by a shinobi behind him, causing him to grunt in pain before reaching around and backhanding the head of the man who'd stabbed him.

Naruto lept back quickly as he reached into his pocket and threw an explosive tag at the closest shinobi to his previous location and quickly landed in between another four shinobi before he punched one in the throat, taking his sword as went to kill another but was forced to hurriedly block a strike from another sword and was surprised by the level of skill from this kenjutsu user before he dropped the sword and ducked to the side causing the kenjutsu user to impale his fellow shinobi and Naruto used that distraction to stab him with a kunai.

Before he could do anything else though, all shinobi near him had suddenly backed away, leaving Naruto to flick his head back and forth as he looked for an opponent until a lone figure started clapping in the distance. He turned to the Kazekage who looked down at him with a smirk.

"Congratulations, you're truly strong to have been able to best that many of my shinobi." he complimented before the mirth faded from his face as his eyes grew hard. "But this ends now." he declared as his iron sand moved at Naruto at speeds that shocked him but he smirked before hopping over it and his fingers crossed in that familiar symbol.

"WE'RE JUST BEGINNING!" he cried with a smirk as the Kazekage's eyes narrowed even further at the teen. **"Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"** he cried as near three hundred of the red-haired shinobi appeared all around him, as they started spreading all over the entire battlefield as they fought shinobi and clouds of smoke and blood filled the air as Naruto moved at his maximum speed for the Kazekage who had his iron surround Naruto on all sides to completely ensnare the shinobi.

What Naruto hadn't been expecting, was the single kunai he'd had in his hand to dissolve into the Kazekage's iron release. Naruto's eyes widened in shock as quickly as they could before the sand became a sharp object that quickly pierced his wrist, drawing a scream of pain from the teen before trying to ignore the pain and flashing forward at his maximum speed, causing the Kazekage to widen his eyes in shock before he jumped back away from the red-haired shinobi causing his control on the iron in Naruto's wrist to go away.

Naruto's entire left arm was now useless due to the stab in the shoulder and pierce in the wrist.

He quickly formed a one-handed Rasengan in his good hand as another clone appeared at his side, forming wind chakra all around it as it formed into a Rasenshuriken. He hurled it with maximum strength and speed at the Kazekage who put up his iron expecting it to be deflected having never seen the jutsu before.

The jutsu made a horrible grinding noise as it worked through the iron before spreading it's rapid winds to the Kazekage himself cutting into his stomach, causing the man to give a soundless scream of pain as he fell on his back whilst blood fell from his mouth and stomach, the jutsu having ground away most of his internal organs.

Naruto idly realized that since he'd just killed him then Sasori would never turn him into a puppet but that was not on the forefront of his thoughts at the moment. What was, was the giant Tanuki that had formed a few moments ago roughly twenty meters away. It seemed that whilst the Jinchuuriki cared about harming his comrades, the Bijuu did not.

Its eyes seemed to light up in mirth as it took in a deep large breath. **"Fuuton: Renkudon!"** the massive tanuki boomed as it fired out a large force of wind right in Naruto's direction and while Naruto was able to jump out of the way of the jutsu, the Suna shinobi were not and as a result, were completely shredded by the strength of the jutsu.

Naruto narrowed his eyes as he threw a kunai with all the strength he possessed above the Shukaku, the speed making it reaches above it quickly before Naruto replaced himself with the kunai and quickly formed a normal Rasengan in his hand and drilled his way through the sand, grinding through it to reach to the Jinchuuriki himself and finally found him before he replaced the Rasengan with his foot and kicked the man in the head.

The kick woke him up and the Ichibi started screaming an wailing as it slowly melted into the dunes, its wails being incomprehensible as it degraded into nothing. All that remained was a sleeping Jinchuuriki with a scared look in his eye as he stared up at Naruto. Naruto was panting, bloody, covered in sand, and obviously tired.

The battle against the Suna shinobi had dwindled down and now all that remained were roughly a dozen shinobi who had taken back their Kazekage with them, leaving Naruto with the Jinchuuriki. Naruto arched his hand as blue flames came to his fingertips as the container looked at him in fear.

"Show me your seal," he ordered, his tired rough voice snapping the Suna Jinchuuriki back into a sense of logic but the man shook his head rapidly in denial. Naruto sighed before slamming his hand into the man's gut through his robes. **"Gogyoo Fuuin!"** he cried as the seal luckily was on his stomach like Naruto's own, the impact of the five element seal making the man cough out saliva before he was knocked unconscious from the hit.

Naruto sighed as he looked at the field of death and destruction before him, turning to see several of the remaining Konoha shinobi who had watched what he'd done come to him and that was the last thing he saw, the shock and surprise of the gennin as he'd ripped through an entire army.

* * *

 **It's kinda short but it covers a lot of ground. I realize that I could've simply dragged out the whole Naruto getting acquainted with Hiruzen's team but this way he gets something done so that the Sannin will actually acknowledge him.**


	4. Calm before the Storm

**ReverentWolf: Acquainted with whom?**

 **Helyanweh: I suppose**

 **Agnar: That is solved in this chapter. Also, I wasn't saying the Sannin themselves are gennin, they are simply the squad that were gennin of Hiruzen. They aren't the Sannin yet so that was all I could really think of to call them, they are all Jonnin.**

 **InfinityMask: He is somewhat ruthless but that is more or less because of the memories of his kage bunshin, he has survived an accumulated couple decades of warfare; anyone would become a little ruthless after that.**

 **I went back and fixed the whole age debacle, the Sannin are 24 now. I realize that Gai would still barely be born but just assume that Gai is two-three years older than canon. This does not affect the story for anything other than a small comedic thing I threw in.**

* * *

Naruto woke up in a tent, his back stiff from the cot he'd slept on but he was otherwise okay from an internal standpoint. He sat up slowly, a groan slipping from his lips as his stiff joints protested at the movement. Before he could even get into a proper sitting position, a dragging noise could be heard as he turned to his right to see Danzo pulling a large wooden box to the side of his bed before sitting on it, his one eye staring at him with a hardness Naruto was familiar with.

"Gennin Uzumaki Naruto," he spoke as Naruto nodded in acknowledgment. "Shinobi who showed up on the outskirts of Konoha after his village was destroyed and made the long trek to Konoha and was capable of bringing Konoha's taijutsu master to a draw." Naruto nodded yet again. "And yet, Hiruzen and Mito-sama trust you," he spoke as an air of curiosity surrounded the man as he stared at the teen.

"He sent you here and you proceeded to not only fight and kill roughly seven hundred experienced shinobi but subdue the Ichibi as well," he spoke in disbelief as he stared at the teen in front of him as Naruto gave yet another nod. "Who are you?" he questioned while leaning forward as he rested his arms on his knees.

Naruto turned to the man with a look of bewilderment on his face as he stared at the student of the Nidaime. "I am Naruto Uzumaki," he told the truth as Danzo narrowed his one visible eye, it seemed this battle had been how he'd lost his eye.

"I know that. I meant, who are you? You're not some lucky ninja who just managed to show up at our border by luck," he stated skeptically whilst staring the teen down. "Who were you?" he asked as Naruto smirked a cold smirk.

"Who wasn't I?" Naruto mentally realized this might backfire but he didn't think about that and this was the only out he had at the moment. "I am Naruto Uzumaki, the former prodigy of Uzu and their fiercest warrior. I am the remaining legacy of Uzu and it's teachings and I WILL bring justice to Uzu's enemies." his eyes grew dark as killing intent rolled off him. "And if that means that I must be a Konoha shinobi then so be it. I'll be obedient and help you win your war because I will crush them, every last one of them," he spoke darkly and Danzo felt something he hadn't felt in a long time.

The strength of Mad Men.

He'd gotten his first taste of this when he'd seen Madara fight in battle and here he was, getting his second taste of it and it was from a man loyal to Konoha. Danzo nodded with no expression as he thought of how truly strong Konoha would be with a shinobi such as this on their side, one who hungered for blood and death.

"Very well. So long as you stay loyal to Konoha, I will support you on your quest. I will have words with Hiruzen about making sure that you and I may spread to all four of our enemies and hopefully we'll be able to completely wipe them out." he spoke as Naruto gave a nod, his gaze set on his lap.

"Hiruzen has sent reinforcements to come to aid us here in camp and we'll most likely be making advances into the desert soon, be prepared for that. We'll need you at your full strength," he spoke as Naruto gave another soft nod, his gaze still set on the blanket in his lap.

Danzo stood silently and just as he was about to walk away, he looked back at Naruto.

"Well done, Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto shot his head up as Danzo was about to walk away.

"The Kazekage is also mortally wounded, I believe he's dead." Danzo didn't turn, he merely stopped for a few moments before he continued walking away, Naruto not seeing the small smirk on the man's face.

Naruto snarled as he stared down at his blanket before throwing them to the side as he stood, wobbling slightly before righting himself with a growl. The nurses barely had time to react before he'd completely vanished, leaving them alone with their patients. He hadn't even noticed the blonde-haired kunoichi in the tent as well.

Naruto reappeared in the large desert where he'd massacred that entire army, nothing was left but the sands. His eyes watered as he stared down at the dunes. Nothing. Nothing was left for the hundreds that had died here, no type of remembrance for them at all and the world simply went on, not caring of the crimes that Naruo had committed. He scoffed lightly as he thought of how he'd probably be praised as a hero by the village.

"Ironic that those who commit the worst atrocities are held in the highest regard." he heard behind him, turning as he ran an arm over his eyes to rid himself of the tears as he looked at the woman who'd followed him. Tsunade stood there with her arms crossed as she stared at him, her lips in a thin line as she regarded the Uzumaki teen in front of her.

Naruto didn't comment on the fact she'd basically spoken his thoughts and merely nodded, his eyes staring blankly at the miles of sand in front of him.

"Didn't know you were here," he spoke, hearing the soft crunches of sand as she walked to his side.

"Sensei sent me here to help with the wounded," she spoke idly as Naruto gave a hum of an acknowledgment as both stared at the dunes, with Tsunade sneaking the occasional glance at Naruto. "So you killed a bunch of people and now you're upset that you killed a bunch of people?" she asked as Naruto snorted amusement, his hand raising to rub his eyes.

"Not someone to beat around the bush ne?" he asked, not seeing the smirk on her face.

"I've been told I'm pretty blunt," she spoke as Naruto smiled himself.

"Yes, I am feeling guilty but not for the killing," he spoke and Tsunade tilted her head at that, a brow raised in curiosity. "I'm feeling the guilt because I know that they died pointlessly," he mumbled as Tsunade frowned slightly.

"They died fighting for their country, that is the job of every shinobi is it not?" she asked as Naruto gave a scoff of disgust as he turned his violet eyes on her, the lost look previously had turned into a sharp hard look.

"What's the point of dying fighting for your country if your country's going to lose," he muttered sourly as Tsunade frowned in disapproval.

"It is arrogant to say that Suna would lose." she reprimanded as Naruto rounded on her, his eyes staring into her own as his hands flew wide as he made a wide sweeping motion.

"With what army will they win?" he thundered at her, catching her slightly off-guard. "They don't have their Jinchuuriki anymore! Their weapon is gone! They don't have a Kage anymore! What will they do!?" he roared as Tsunade's eyes widened.

"What happened to the Kazekage?" she asked as Naruto sighed, calming down as he flopped down onto the sand, landing on his back as he stared at the harsh sun beating down on him.

"I killed him," he spoke calmly as if he hadn't done such a monumental thing to change the war. "Or at the very least critically wounded him, there is a low chance he survived though," he added as Tsunade stared in slight shock to the man younger than her before her.

How strong does one have to be to be able to what Naruto has done?

"Still, dying for your country is the goal of us shinobi. Even if your country is going to lose the war, you'll have tried and that is the most important thing," she spoke calmly, the winds of the desert kicking up nearby as Naruto contemplated her words, his face still as he thought. Tsunade took this time to study the young man in front of her.

As a shinobi, the teen was stellar and was very strong and as a man, he seemed to at least have a conscious and was friendly and charismatic on the outside which showed what kind of person he was. But on the inside, she could tell that there were cracks in the facade that made Naruto Uzumaki.

The teen seemed to have a wise side but she herself had never seen it, she assumed her sensei had seen it considering the interest he'd shown in Naruto since the beginning. But it seemed that naruto had a lot of skeletons in his closet, strange considering how young he was but in this world; power never came without a cost.

"Did I pass my psych eval?" he asked boredly as he turned his head to her, his violet eyes piercing through her as she refrained from showing shock that he'd caught her. It also seemed he'd gotten over his slight crisis and was now back to 'normal'. She shook her head with a laugh as she shoved her hands into her white cloak.

"Nope," she answered, popping the p on the end as he narrowed his eyes slightly. "I'll have to take you back to the village and have a Yamanaka take a look at you," she ordered with a smile, glad she'd beat him. She saw something but it was so brief she almost thought it didn't happen.

A flash of panic.

He then smirked before standing up and coming right up in front of her as if he knew something she didn't.

"I'm not going back to Konoha for a while so I'll have to take a rain check," he spoke with a smile as Tsunade narrowed her eyes.

"And where do you think you're going?"

"Wherever the war is," he spoke, not missing a beat, replying so quick it caught Tsunade off-guard. "Well," he stretched and got a few pops from his back for his efforts, drawing a sigh of relief from the teen. "Gotta go figure out what I'm doing now," He reached down and patted her hair, shocking her slightly but before she could react he'd retracted the hand. "Bye Senju-hime!" he whispered before disappearing in a shunshin, spreading sand everywhere and hitting the blonde in the face, causing her to scowl while she walked off as a fond smile started to tug at her lips for reasons she didn't fully understand.

* * *

Several months passed by as Naruto went on through the days. He and Danzo had moved around from camp to camp along the borders, they'd destroyed forts, enemy camps or even sometimes other forces but nothing as major as what had happened back at the Suna border.

Currently, the teen was in Konoha, a rare moment since he'd not been back to the village since he was made a shinobi. He didn't truly know what to do since he didn't know many in the village at this point in time, so he slowly ventured to the Uzumaki compound as he searched for Mito, someone he knew to a degree.

He reached the compound fairly easily and was met with the smiling face of Suri who seemed to still gladly serve Mito. "Naruto-san, it's a pleasure to see you again," she greeted kindly as she stepped to the side as he stepped into the compound while she shut the door behind him. "Mito-sama is in her room, I shall bring the both of you some tea soon." It seemed the girl had an innate ability to read a situation as Naruto nodded in appreciation as he walked off.

He rapped lightly on the paper sliding door and a muffled come in had him opening it, surprise filling his features as he regarded the two women in the room. Tsunade and Mito were at the side, leaning over a small table with papers covering the table and familiar seals lining the papers as well.

Mito gave him a light smile whilst Tsunade blinked in shock at the man in the door. "Mito, Tsunade." he greeted before the surprise faded away as he gave his usual smirk, it seemed arrogance was one of his more common features. "Can I come in?" he asked as Mito gave a silent nod before she refocused on the seals as Tsunade followed her lead, her eyes lingering on Naruto a tad bit longer before returning to the papers.

Naruto sat at a desk to the side of Mito's bed, his eyes shut as he leaned back into the rolling chair as he enjoyed the relaxation. The slight murmurs of their conversation and pen scribbling were the only things that penetrated the silence as he sat there, enjoying the tranquil setting.

He'd been rather restless these past months and the calm atmosphere was much appreciated. A few moments later the door was opened to reveal Suri coming through with a tray of tea, cups, and some type of light snack; she was a rather dutiful servant to Mito.

"Thank you, Suri," was heard from Mito, Naruto leaning back into the chair as his eyes slid shut yet again. "Alright Tsunade, we will pick this back up in a few; I need a break," she said kindly, her granddaughter giving a nod as they poured themselves some tea and ate crackers, all in a proper lady-like fashion; they had a reputation after all. "How have you been Naruto-kun?" asked the woman, no longer allowing Naruto to go unnoticed.

His eyes dragged themselves open even though his mind screamed in protest due to him desperately needing sleep. "Fine." his reply was short and precise. The aging Uzumaki raised a single brow as she took a sip from her teacup before setting it back down.

"Are you?" she asked as he raised a brow, sitting up from his slouched position as he leaned on the armrest of the chair.

"Of course," he replied almost automatically, his violet eyes peering into her own brown ones. Mito nodded before her near shut eyes opened even more as she regarded him, a knowing look in her brown orbs as she seemed to stare right through him.

"Hiruzen tells me you've been doing quite well on the front, you're apparently up for a promotion," she spoke idly as Naruto nodded before leaning back into the chair as he folded his hands over his stomach.

"That is nice," he replied as if hearing that someone else hadn't gotten the promotion instead of himself. Tsunade watched in amusement as Mito had a verbal battle with Naruto, her honey orbs watching as Naruto tensed slightly.

"It is nice, field promotions are rather rare and deeds for such a thing must be quite extreme correct?" she asked as Naruto nodded. "And yet you are not hanging out with your friends and allies, why is this?" she asked as Naruto raised a single brow in confusion.

"Are you two not my allies?" he asked as Mito gave him a small smile, a knowing smile.

"Are you saying you'd rather be in the presence of us two than your companions?" she asked as Naruto barely withheld his snort of amusement, so this is what Mito had been trying to unveil. He smirked mentally as he readied himself for this game.

"Maybe I am. Would it be such a crime to be near friends and family?" Mito shrugged lightly as she raised her teacup to her lips, her eyes dancing with mirth as she regarded him.

"It would not. But clearly you hold some friends in higher regards than others?" she asked, her question not truly a question as Naruto shook his head.

"I simply hold my clan head in higher regard than those I do not truly know," he commented as he sat up, his hands remaining idle as he stared at Mito. "In any case," he added so that he could stop Mito. "I am not here for long, I am simply waiting for Danzo-senpai to finish the meeting he's in before we head back to the front." He did not see the flicker of disappointment cross their faces. "That is why I chose to spend my time with you Mito," he turned his eyes to the blonde.

"Tsunade being here is a bonus," he commented as Tsunade gave a playful scowl as Naruto smirked, his eyes returning to Mito who seemed ready to continue their game of communication.

It would be a long few hours.

* * *

He gave a sigh of satisfaction as his joints popped whilst walking the halls of the Uzumaki compound with Tsunade, Mito having gone to sleep a few minutes ago. "She really is good at talking," he commented dryly as they walked, his rear sore from sitting down for so long as Tsunade gave a snort of amusement next to him.

"Well you know, wife of Shodai and all that; she probably picked up a thing or two," she spoke with a condescending tone as Naruto gave a gasp of shock while turning to her, his eyes wide.

"Really? I would have never guessed!" he cried in shock as Tsunade scoffed, shoving his face away as he chuckled while righting himself. "I need something to eat, wanna come with?" he asked as Tsunade was about to say something before he beat her to the punch, "I'll pay." she shut her mouth as she gestured to the exit as Suri bowed to them while they passed.

Just as Naruto was starting to walk in the direction of Ichiraku's he realized that Teuchi was most likely still a teen at this point in time, meaning there was more than likely no Ichiraku's Ramen at this point in time. He stopped somewhat suddenly with a sheepish laugh as he turned to Tsunade while rubbing the back of his head.

"I don't really know where to go," he spoke slowly, Tsunade blinking at him for a few times before she grabbed onto his arm and practically dragged him down the street; talking rapidly as she did so about all the greatest restaurants and food stands.

He was soon shoved into a stand for dango and before he knew it, Tsunade had already ordered for the both of them. He snorted in amusement as she leaned back with a satisfied smile, something that changed when she heard his snort.

"What, got a problem with dango?" she inquired, her face dangerously close to his own with a raised eyebrow. A smirk was the only warning she'd gotten before he had kissed her nose, causing the woman to turn red for a mixture of reasons before swinging her fist at his head, something he aptly ducked while chuckling.

"No, I don't have a problem with it at all Tsuna-chan," he spoke and if possible she turned even redder at the name as she scowled at him.

"Ass." The one word made Naruto's laughs even louder as the food arrived, his deep chuckles ensuing even as they slowly started eating.

"Wanna explain to me how the Senju princess manages to remain single all this time?" he asked while popping a ball in his mouth while Tsunade gave a snort of her own at the question.

"And who exactly am I supposed to have dated? Jiraiya?" she asked and Naruto withheld a wince at the mention of Jiraiya. Maybe if Jiraiya learned how to be chivalrous every once in a while he could have actually had a chance with Tsunade.

"I'm sure there are some other males in the village," he spoke as Tsunade shrugged before continuing to eat her dango.

"If there are they're all dumb or think they're better than women," she muttered darkly as Naruto raised a brow in amusement at the dark cloud that seemed to hover over her at the prospect of men thinking they're better than women.

Naruto knew better, of course, he'd been on the same team as Sakura of all people.

"Well if it's any consolation I personally think women are scarier than men," he spoke as the woman gave him a sarcastic look.

"Really? Well doesn't that conveniently help your odds," she spoke snarkily as his usual smirk came into place. Before he could retort a boy hopped into the booth they were in and was saddled right next to Tsunade, catching both parties off guard. The woman soon wrapped an arm around the boy while pressing him into the side of her breasts, making Naruto gain a twinge of jealousy for the boy.

"Nee-chan who's this guy?" the boy asked and a ball of lead seemed to come out of nowhere in Naruto's gut. Tsunade's little brother who would die in the war they were currently in. Naruto racked his brain for any knowledge about how the boy had died as he tried to think of ways to save him.

"He's an Uzumaki that Mito-baa has been taking care of." Naruto almost raised a brow at the description but raised his hand in a wave regardless. The boy narrowed his eyes at him in what he hoped was a scowl but was really more amusing than it was threatening.

"C'mon Nee-chan you said we could hang out today!" he cried and Naruto was amused at the situation while Tsunade seemed a mixture of awkward and disappointed. Naruto meanwhile saw Danzo standing in the doorway, the man's one eye conveying the message needed before he was gone. Tsunade turned to him to apologize for having to ditch him but Naruto raised a hand to stop her as he grabbed his remaining dango sticks.

"It's okay, I gotta deploy anyway," he spoke while sliding out of the booth standing to his full height as Nawaki and Tsunade did the same. He reached into his pocket before withdrawing his toad wallet, something that drew a raised brow from Tsunade and an awed face from Nawaki.

He put the money on the table before putting his wallet back in his pocket, caught off-guard by Nawaki.

"That's so cooooooool!" the boy exclaimed and Naruto snorted before he shrugged.

"I'm sure you'll be able to find it somewhere." he spoke while turning to Tsunade, "Well I'll see you around," he spoke before Tsunade nodded, both standing there awkwardly for a little while.

"Are ya done yet?" Nawaki asked impatiently as both partied flushed a healthy red before Naruto was gone in a shunshin, leaving the two alone as Nawaki dragged her down the street similar to how Tsunade had dragged Naruto. "You two should just kiss already." the boy remarked as Tsunade almost tripped herself at the statement.

* * *

Naruto and a group of several dozen other ninjas were dashing through the trees in the direction of the Iwa border in order to try and reinforce it to stop the rock shinobi from breaking through and raiding fire country when a massive explosion shook them all, causing some to fall and others to cling to the nearest surface.

They all looked around, hoping to see where the explosion had come from. "Danzo-sama!" a voice cried as they all turned to see a man pointing up and away, above Konoha. There they saw something that made everyone's blood run cold.

An island fortress surrounded by hundreds of airships as their guns rained down on Konoha, small figures jumping from the island to descend onto Konoha.

Konoha was being sieged.

"MEN!" Danzo's voice rang through the clearing. "Defend Konoha at all costs!"

Naruto had already sprung into action as he left them all behind, a blonde blur to the eye as he ran as fast as he could for Konoha; desperate to save those he cares about.


	5. Stormy Skies Lead to Rain

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

* * *

Naruto watched as if in slow-motion as the sword stabbed through the cheerful brown-haired boy, a ball of cold ice forming in his gut even though a fiery rage swept through him as his eyes darkened, turning to the man who ripped the blade right out of the child without remorse; not caring that he just slaughtered Nawaki at all.

Naruto was in front of him before he realized it, his amethyst eyes glaring down on the man as his hand came forward and choked him. The man dropped his sword and brought his hands to his neck to try and escape the grip only to look down at the man choking him, fear filling him as he stared into those red slit eyes.

Naruto gave a quick jerk of the hand and snapped the man's neck, growling at the body even as it fell before he turned while his eyes returned to normal while he looked down at the dead child. **(1)** His eyes went dark before picking up the body and dashing away, swerving around all of the miniature fights happening over the village as he made a bee-line to the hospital.

He arrived and quickly handed the dead boy off to a nurse before leaving as she processed what just happened.

Naruto let his anger flow through him as it provided adrenaline that couldn't be replaced by conventional methods. He didn't even pay attention as he ripped through enemy shinobi after enemy shinobi, taking out his anger on all these men and women that had come to his village and attacked, the second time in his lifetime that an opponent invaded his village.

Another kunai through the throat, another kick to the neck, another fight and another and another and another as Naruto fought. It was disturbing that he felt nothing for all the lives he was ending but he did not care, he'd been fighting for too long to stop now. He gave another kunai through the throat of a man before deploying several dozen kage bunshin that shot off in different directions to sweep through the village and help those in need.

Naruto glared up at the massive floating island floating just a mile away from the village and he was soon heading for it in a dead-sprint, determined to end this village just like he did all those years ago. After roughly a minute he was on the ship, slashing and running through enemies that came his way before he was soon where was important; the room containing the zero-tails.

It was a tall room, more of an indoor colosseum than anything with the single beast in the center of the room.

Naruto grimaced upon seeing it due to it being much larger than when he last fought it, much much larger. What he remembered about this demon was that it was formed by the negative emotions of those around it and it is strengthened by these negative emotions, this power being every bit stronger due to the large amounts of it in the village below.

The human-faced snake hissed at him before dozens of yellow arms shot from the creatures form and darted for Naruto, chasing him as he bobbed and weaved out and in between the hands as he narrowly dodged them all, remembering the chakra-absorbing properties they possessed.

He would occasionally flick out a kunai for the creature's face but it would dodge them every time he threw them as the arms continued to pursue him. Naruto narrowed his eyes before flying back, rushing through hand seals before finishing on the snake sign. **"Fuuton: Daitoppa!"** A massive blast of wind shot from Naruto's mouth with the force of a hurricane as it ripped into the creature, cutting off several arms and shoving back others.

Naruto landed on the ground and saw the several remaining arms get absorbed back into the creature as Naruto narrowed his eyes at it. From what he remembered, the creature was controlled by the tablet and would revolt against the sky people upon its destruction but if he destroyed the tablet here, it would go down to Konoha and feed off them as well.

A soft flutter was the only indication of arrival as Mito came to stand next to Naruto, a relieved smile coming across the teen as the snake demon glared at the new arrival. "So, any special sealing techniques that you can use here?" the teen asked as Mito frowned as if hurt.

"Of course I do, but I need something to seal it into," she murmured as Naruto grinned at her, a scowl coming to Mito's face as she also came to the realization.

"Whether or not you trust me, you have to admit that I am the best person for this job," he argued as Mito's lips pursed.

"Get close to it and stay close to it," she murmured before Naruto launched forward, the woman running through hand signs rapidly. The red-haired teen was soon right in front of the creature as Mito slammed her hands into the ground. **"Uzumaki Sealing Technique!"** Black squiggles shot from her and traced along the ground as they encircled both Naruto and the Zero Tails.

The lines manifested under and around them as the tall demon cast a curious eye to the ground underneath them. The black lines and letters soon flashed a bright white as Mito frowned, Naruto grinning in triumph while the beast realized what was happening to it.

"Brace yourself Naruto!" she cried as the seal took place, the creature roaring as a black mist seemed to seep out of it and into Naruto, the red-haired teen falling to a knee as the power and darkness swelled within him. He groaned and huffed for several moments before the creature lost all solidity and became a gas that swirled into Naruto.

The teen roared in pain as he felt his chakra coils adjust to the sudden influx of power while his mental state warred with the creatures own to rampage. He fell to his other knee as he held his hands to his head, his mind feeling as if bursting as his stomach burned with ferocity.

Mito watched worriedly as the teen struggled to contain the creature, she had gone through a similar process when taking in the Kyuubi so she was not at all surprised about his reaction; simply worried. She watched in mild shock as the teen sighed before falling on his side, his shoulders heaving with every breath as the teen laid on the hard stone floor.

"Naruto? Are you okay?" she asked before coming near him, crouching at his side as the teen gave a shaky thumbs-up.

"Just let me sit here for a minute," the teen requested tiredly as he panted on the floor. Mito gave a soft smile before standing as Naruto groaned again. "So I guess you could say I saved the village," the teen commented as Mito rolled her eyes.

"More like you were the closest way to save the village, I could have easily used a scroll or pot to replace you," she insulted as Naruto raised a finger to object.

"But! You did not have the time nor the materials to make a scroll that big. And I don't see any pots nearby," he muttered as Mito rolled her eyes.

"I'm the best," the teen muttered as Mito scoffed, stomping off the ship as Naruto chuckled deeply even as she stormed away. "Mito-san," he spoke, his tone more quiet and subdued than before as Mito turned viciously. "Nawaki's in the hospital," he admitted, watching as Mito's eyes widened before the woman was gone in a leaf shunshin.

* * *

Two days later, the teen could only stare ahead at the several portraits lined along with several hundred white lilies while the rain came down on the village, soaking all those standing atop the Hokage building so that they could mourn their dead.

One of these dead, was Nawaki Senju, a young boy who didn't deserve to get taken this early. Naruto cast a slow eye over to both Tsunade and Mito who stood together, Tsunade openly weeping while Mito stood there with a somber expression.

Naruto realized that this was where Tsunade's hatred of the Hokage role began and he had to put in measures to make sure that not only did she not leave the village, but also not get the Hemophobia that was with her for decades. He came to a stand next to them, silently standing beside Mito who cast an idle eye to him but nothing more. Tsunade didn't even notice he had arrived, too consumed in her grief as Jiraiya laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"How did you know?" Mito asked quietly as Naruto frowned, his expression dark as he stared at the smiling picture of Nawaki.

"I was there," he answered, the woman giving a slow nod at the answer. "It was painless, and the person who did it is long dead," the teen spoke somewhat darkly as Mito stared at him somewhat put at ease with the information but also disappointed in Naruto for simply killing the man out of rage.

"I see," she uttered before returning her gaze to the portrait for a few more seconds. Mito shook away from it before grabbing Tsunade around the shoulders and softly escorting the girl away.

"Tsunade," Naruto stopped them on their way out as the pair turned to him, Tsunade wiping at her red eyes as she stared up at him. He simply reached a hand into his jacket before withdrawing the necklace, the small green crystal glimmering in the rain as Tsunade's eyes widened in shock and even Mito was mildly surprised.

"H-how did you," Tsunade stammered as she reached out for it somewhat remorsefully as Naruto set it in her hand. A realization came to the blonde as she snapped her head up to him. "You were there," she mumbled as Naruto nodded, watching as the blonde's features became filled with rage.

"Why didn't you save him," she accused as Naruto frowned. "I've seen you," she hissed as her finger pointed at him, her volume rising as she glared at him. "I know you're strong, I know you're strong enough SO WHY DIDN'T YOU SAVE HIM!" she screamed as she tried to hit the teen but Mito held back the medic-nin who squirmed in her grip, new tears springing to her eyes as she glared up at him.

"Tsunade!" Mito scolded as she pulled back the woman forcefully, shoving the woman down the path as the woman sobbed and screamed the whole way, the attention of the funeral now on Naruto who just stared at the portraits.

"Hey," Jiraiya spoke somewhat awkwardly behind Naruto but the teen shook his head.

"It's okay, she's grieving and was searching for someone to blame, I've gotten it a lot," he muttered as Jiraiya nodded slowly, not noticing Naruto's eyes focusing on the tile roof of the Hokage building.

 _The smack resounded through the room as Naruto reeled his head back from the blow before slowly turning it back to the furious crying woman before him; Mebuki Haruno. The woman had large tears in her eyes and her expression was nothing but rage and loss. "My daughter died for you, you demon-spawn!" the woman accused as she stuck a finger in the stronger and more capable man's face._

 _"My condolences for your loss Miss Haruno," he tried to bottle up his own emotions about Sakura's death, a mere push away from drinking himself into a hole to try and escape his problems._

 _"No!" the woman cried as she shook her head, her blonde hair swishing back and forth. "You don't get to say that! She died for you! And you don't even care! You're just a demon, I told her not to talk to you," she hissed. "AND THIS IS WHY!" she cried again as Naruto remain expressionless._

 _"I do express my regret and remorse for the death of Sakura but I do care, I care about all my comrades," he spoke quietly as the woman glared up at him, tracks of tears trailing down her face._

 _"No, you don't! You can't express emotion! You only know how to hate, I don't care that they say you're our new hope; I just know that everyone who becomes your friend dies. Is that a coincidence Demon-spawn?" she accused as Naruto's jaw tightened. "It's not! I know what you are! You're a monster who only cares about himself! If you really cared about my daughter you would have DIED INSTEAD OF HER!" the woman screamed as her husband came from behind her, now hugging her as they stood in the doorway._

 _Naruto watched as the woman sobbed against her husband as the pink-haired man gave him a harsh glare. "I think you should leave," the man said as Naruto bowed._

 _"My apologies again, Haruno family," he finished before walking down the street as he sighed, his shoulders slumping as his entire body racked with sorrow._

 _He slumped into a corner booth, a single bottle of sake being his only company as he slowly tried to drink away any thoughts he had about his teammate. That's why he was three bottles in when Kakashi found him, eleven bottles in when he left._

 _That had been the first night Naruto realized that no matter what he did, no matter how strong he got or how fast he got; he would never be able to stop people from dying._

 _And it would not be the last night he thought about that._

* * *

That night Naruto had been getting ready to go into bed, only for his doorbell to ring and pull him away from the possible comfort of sleep to answer his door; opening it to reveal a drunk Tsunade leaning against the apartment doorway. **(2)** "Tsunade?" he questioned as the woman smiled up at him.

"Hey," she slurred as she poked him in the cheek. "Naruto," she dragged the 'o' out as the woman giggled. "Ramen topping," she murmured as Naruto rose a brow in amusement.

"Tsunade how do you even know where I live?" he asked as the woman reeled back in shock.

"I'll have you know!" the woman shouted quite loudly as Naruto winced at the volume. "I am a competent kunoichi!" she declared before staggering slightly as Naruto moved to stop her fall as the woman giggled. "Good job Naruto," she whispered, again drawing out the 'o' as she giggled. "That was a test," she spoke as if it were obvious as Naruto gained a small smile.

"Let's get you home yeah?" he asked the blonde who seemed confused as if she didn't know what home was at first. When she realized though, the woman soon thundered out of his light grip and into his living room before laying down spread-eagled on his floor.

"Nah," she denied as she made the motion for snow angels on the rug. Naruto frowned lightly before sighing as he shut the door, walking into the living room before plopping down on the couch tiredly while watching the clearly drunk women continue to wiggle about on the carpet.

Naruto rubbed the bridge of his nose as he tried to think of a way to get Tsunade to go home. The woman was then on the couch, doing strange stretches that made her generous assets move and jiggle in certain ways. The woman then yawned before falling over and landing in Naruto's lap, the woman was in shock for a moment before she nestled her head in deeper to his lap, her face angled up as she smiled blissfully as if she had planned to fall that way.

"Tsunade?" Naruto questioned as the blonde hummed. "I am not a pillow," he informed as the woman hummed again. Naruto suppressed a sigh at the woman's attitude as he looked down at the seemingly content Tsunade. "Then why are you using me as your pillow?" he questioned as the woman hummed again. Naruto closed his eyes in annoyance before opening them as he tried to come to his senses. "Why aren't you at home?" he questioned as the woman frowned and looked up at him.

"Too many memories," she murmured as Naruto's mouth opened in realization before sighing as the woman became even more comfortable. "And I wanted to say sorry," the woman muttered as she wrung her hands together, Naruto watching in curiosity as the woman who was more often than not mature act like a child. "I know it wasn't your fault," she murmured as her hands tightened into fists. "I was just so angry,"

The woman broke down into sobs as Naruto frowned in empathy before grabbing one of the hands to try and give her some support which invoked a tidal wave of movement as the woman quickly pivoted and hugged his midsection, her face buried in his bare stomach as she sobbed. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," she mumbled over and over as Naruto pat her shoulder.

"It's okay Tsunade, I completely understand," he said as the woman continued to shake and sob for several more moments before the sobs subsided and the woman simply clung to him. Naruto shook her shoulder only to realize she had passed out drunk and was now drooling on his stomach, his eyes twitched at the revelation before gently trying to push her off and almost succeeded before the woman clung onto his waist, her face buried in his thigh.

"Nawaki..." she murmured, stopping the red-haired teen dead as he stared down at the woman that seemed to be content to lay there as if she had done it several times before.

Naruto frowned in realization before shaking his head and laying against the couch, his head lolled back to lay down at a weird angle on the couch and he was certain it would hurt in the morning. Naruto sighed before shimmying several times to try and get comfortable for the coming night since he knew he would not be leaving his position.

He idly amused himself with the thought of someone like Jiraiya coming in and seeing Tsunade hugging his sweatpants before he nearly winced at the prospect of Hiruzen or Mito finding them, the two would more than likely assume that he did it and had taken advantage of someone in grieving, a bad image since the two were quite connected to the blonde woman who had refused to release his leg.

Naruto thought about how he could simply force her off but he couldn't do that to her, not when today had been so tough on her already; she didn't deserve that at all.

And so, Naruto settled in as his hand was taken by Tsunade while the teen smiled. He's gone to sleep in much worse conditions after all and with a beautiful woman next to you, it is always a good sleep even if nothing happened; women were good at chasing away the ghosts and demons in his life and he was almost certain that Tsunade would be better at it than any other before her.

Several hours later he awoke to a shattering noise and a clang, Naruto flickering out of his position and was already in a position to strike down the infiltrator, his reflexes taking him over as his fist thundered for their face. The figure turned their face to him in shock as he stopped the strike, blue visible chakra flickering around his fist a mere inch from Tsunade's face, the chakra licking her nose before he brought down the fist.

Tsunade wasn't focused on the fist though, it was the eyes. His eyes had been so cold and blank that she knew he didn't even hesitate to attempt to kill her, not a slight hesitation as Tsunade realized what Naruto truly is.

A weapon.

He was a product of war and strife that all shinobi either strived to be or strived to overcome, Naruto was the ideal and perfect shinobi; a cold-hearted killer with little to no moral thoughts on the matter. The teen would have had no regrets, no remorse, and no thoughts on the person he killed in his apartment; only stopping because he knew them.

Tsunade could feel the power in that strike, her hair had fluttered lightly from the sheer strength and speed he had struck with and Tsunade realized with some shock that he was stronger than her; much stronger.

"I try to make you some food and you try to kill me as payment?" she asked, veiling the fear she had felt from his close proximity as the man scowled, reaching up to rub at his eyes with a headshake before he focused again on the blonde who tried to hide her fear and anxiety, she was failing.

"Old habits die hard," he muttered before looking to the right and seeing the bowl shattered and the pan next to it as Naruto shook his head. "Try not to break anything else please," he asked before leaving the small kitchen as he made his way into the living room, eyeing the rising sun with a scowl. "I'm going for a run, don't burn down my place please," he requested as Tsunade rolled her eyes.

"If I do it'll be on purpose!" she hollered after him even as she heard the door shut, her form going slack as she leaned against the counter. The sheer power and indifference he had shown unnerved her, her thoughts of Naruto becoming scrambled as she tried to compare the flirtatious Uzumaki with the warrior Uzumaki.

Naruto jogged down the street, releasing several dozen Kage Bunshin to go help with the repairing of a damaged Konoha before he continued on his run for training ground seven. He had soon reached it, nodding to the occasional person that recognized him as he passed.

He came to a stop atop the massive lake that ran alongside training ground seven, the redhead stopping in the middle of it as he sat, crossing his legs and folding his hands together in the boar sign as he closed his eyes, letting go of his stress and control as he did so.

Nothing happened at first but soon, the effects were quite visible.

Blades of wind started exploding from the teen, the water flickering about as he practically made a sphere of air around himself; protecting him from all pain and memories as he poured himself into his technique. The once small blades of wind now became gigantic, larger than trees and sharper than knives as they swished around in the air, lashing out in controlled chaos as if it were all an orchestrated event.

The sphere of wind Naruto sat in became a misty white as the wind started lashing around so fast that anything inside became obscured from the outside world. Soon, the entire lake became unsafe as the massive blades of wind expanded and flew about, never going over the land and staying hidden behind the trees as they lashed around and around and around in vicious calculated strikes.

The blades of wind got larger and larger the farther they got from the teen, the blades easily taking several dozen feet in length as they flew about as if they had a mind of their own; as if they were sentient. Mito flickered to the ground, safe from several meters away as she watched the pulsing chakra lash about.

She was sure that no one in the village under kage-level would sense this unless they were a sensor such as herself. Hiruzen then appeared next to her several moments later as they stared into the hurricane of wind, hundreds of wind blades flying about the large sphere of air that was now levitating above the water, the water waving about in vicious laps as if they were at a beach and not a lake.

"What is he doing?" Hiruzen asked, his arms crossed as he stared into the masterful display of wind manipulation on levels he could never even think of.

"Training?" she responded, not sure herself as she had never seen anything like this before, let alone from Naruto. Several moments later Hiruzen's students arrived, all three of them more than surprised at the massive sphere of power above the lake.

"What is it?" Orochimaru questioned, enthralled by the power and skill inside of the wind orb.

"Naruto," Tsunade muttered as she stared at the orb in awe, Jiraiya and Orochimaru both flicking their heads to her.

"The Uzumaki?" Orochimaru questioned as Mito nodded. "What is he doing?" the pale-skinned man questioned as both Mito and Hiruzen frowned.

"He's blowing off steam," a voice said as they all turned their heads up to see Danzo who had his one eye focused on the massive hurricane of wind.

"Blowing off steam?" Jiraiya asked as he looked at the very deadly display of power. "Seems more like he's trying to make us the village hidden in stumps," the man rebuked as Mito and Hiruzen frowned at the massive thing of wind as well as at Jiraiya's comment.

"Jiraiya-kun has a point," Hiruzen commented as he turned to his old teammate, the man landing next to him his arms crossed. "How do we stop him before he destroys the village?" he asked as Danzo frowned.

"He won't destroy anything Hiruzen," Danzo reassured as the wind seemed to double in strength, the sheer strength of power coming from the hurricane making their clothes flutter and the branches to rattle. "He has the best control over wind I've ever seen and I know good wind manipulation, I have it myself you know," the man spoke dryly as Hiruzen scowled.

"Still, the potential of him destroying the village is too great," Danzo shook his head.

"You're not getting it monkey," the man muttered as Hiruzen gave him a glower for the name. "You can't get him out of it," he said as Hiruzen rose a brow. "I've tried everything, I've had men try to force him out but no jutsu can get him out, not even fire affects that thing," he muttered with distaste. "You just have to wait this out," he finished as Mito rose a single brow.

"And what did you mean by blowing off steam?" she asked as Danzo quirked his mouth to one side.

"He does this after every battle or any type of conflict, I asked him about it once and he said that every time he fights someone he gathers up all this energy and if he doesn't get knocked out he has to expulse all this energy and chakra," he summed up as the others rose their brows.

"That much power hm?" Orochimaru muttered as he stared at the wind chakra only to blink.

"Uh, what's up with that black?" Jiraiya questioned as they all returned their gaze to the massive sphere, seeing streaks of black beginning to overcome the sphere of wind as they felt the malice and hate fill the clearing.

"That monster!" Mito exclaimed in shock as the others rose their brows. "We decided to try and hide this fact but I suppose now's a good a time as any, Naruto is now a Jinchuuriki," she admitted as several people snapped their head to her in shock.

"When?" Tsunade demanded as Mito frowned at her granddaughter.

"The massive island that the Sky Village used as their base that flew ran on the power of a creature, we interrogated several men and they confirmed it for us; the shinobi of the village had gathered hundreds of people and combined all their hatred and suffering into a single creature." Danzo and Hiruzen's eyes widened at the implications.

"What are you implying Mito-san?" Orochimaru questioned from the back as she turned her eyes to the orb, watching as the massive blades of wind disappeared and only the sphere remained.

"They made their own tailed beast," she muttered in distaste. "They called it the Zero-tails, and as with any Bijuu; we cannot kill it only seal it. With Naruto's Uzumaki chakra as well as his consent, I sealed it into him and he had seemed fine until now so I had not deemed the need to bring it up with any of you," She frowned as she looked every one of her years. "I was wrong,"

The group watched on anxiously as the sphere became nearly entirely encompassed in black as two crimson eyes appeared over the orb, the eyes glaring at them as the malice and hatred radiating nearly doubled again; the sheer power and killing intent becoming unbearable.

Tsunade glared at the orb and just as she was about to run forward and punch it, it dispersed with an ear-splitting screech as Naruto fell out of the orb; landing on his back and onto the waters.

The group was soon hovering over him, some more obsessively than others as they tried to see the teen's state of health while said teen simply blinked up at them. "Didn't realize I was putting on a show," he groaned as he sat up, slowly coming to a stand as he straightened out his back and rubbed his neck.

"How are you?" Tsunade asked, Naruto raising a brow in confusion to the question as he looked over himself to see he wasn't bleeding or injured in any way.

"Fine?" he answered as he turned to her. "Should I not be?" he questioned as the woman blinked.

"So you didn't feel the Zero-tails take you over?" Hiruzen inquired as Naruto blinked at him in shock.

"Oh, you guys saw something huh?" he asked as they nodded. "Nah, I was just kinda seeing how it's chakra felt and that was kinda it. I'm made of tougher stuff than to let that old worm take me over!" he cried in triumph while giving them a thumbs-up as if to help show his assurance on the matter.

Despite this, Tsunade started running a green palm over his face before starting to run it down but her hand was stopped from continuing by the teen. "Is my word nothing these days?" the teen questioned with a raised brow as the woman scowled at him.

"I'm just making sure it didn't do some damage to your chakra coils," she bit out in frustration as she tried again to run the green mystical hand over him only for the teen to leap back several feet.

"Well, this was fun but I've got stuff to do don't we Taicho?" the teen asked as Danzo frowned.

"No, we are to aid with rebuilding and assistance of the village until Hiruzen tells us otherwise," the man said as Naruto sweat-dropped.

"Well..." he trailed off as Tsunade glowered at him. "I've got to go feed my cat?" he finished lamely at the end before shrugging as he hopped away, dashing through the trees and back to the village. Tsunade groaned in annoyance before disappearing in a shunshin followed by her teammates, leaving the three in the clearing.

"We need to start moving onto Hanzo, Hiruzen," Danzo spoke harshly as Hiruzen frowned, reaching up a hand to grab at his budding goatee.

"Yes, I will be sending them there soon, I will need a favor though," Hiruzen trailed off as he thought of the strength of the mighty Salamander in Ame.


End file.
